Composer | Researcher | Technologist | Educator

Droki’s composition honors include fellowships with Arraymusic and ensemble vim, commissions from the Mellon Foundation, MUSIQA, and Westminster Concert Series (Hear & Now), residencies with Arraymusic, Arts Letters & Numbers, Westminster University, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and prizes from Ars Electronica Forum Wallis, Ensemble Ibis, Foundation for Modern Music’s International Avalon Competition, MAP Composition Competition, National Federation of Music, N.Scorpion, and the University of Miami. Their work has been performed by the Array Ensemble, Braeburn Brass Quintet, Deco Saxophone Quartet, Domino Ensemble, E^2, ensemble vim, Robert Black, Lindsay Garritson, Kimi Kawashima, Mirim Kin, and Jacob Mason, among others. Ouro’s music is featured with several record labels including Navona Records, Petrichor Records, and RMN Music.

Ouro’s music has been performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Australasian Computer Music Conference, Charlotte New Music Festival, Cube Fest, Diffrazioni, Earth Day Art Model, Ecos Urbanos, Festival DME, FETA Festival, Hot Air Music Festival, jemFEST, International Computer Music Festival (ICMC), International Electroacoustic Music Exhibition, International Trumpet Guild, Manchester Music Festival, NEMF, New Music Gathering, New York Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), SiMN, Society of Composers, Inc’s National Conference (SCI), Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), Spark Intersectional Music and Art Festival, and the UNK and UTK New Music Festivals, among others.

Droki’s research interests are driven primarily by composer advocacy. Their main project entitled Recent Trends in Composition Calls and Competitions distills inequities of the composition competition ecosystem through a statistical analysis of over five-hundred surveyed opportunities. Recent Trends has been presented at numerous events including the Atlantic Music Festival, New Music Gathering, Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC!), and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), and for several forums at Duke University, Montana State University, and Ohio University, among others. At the conclusion of their doctoral studies in 2023, Droki was presented with the University of Miami’s Diversity Advocate Award for Recent Trends. Droki is currently developing and expanding Recent Trends into a four-part resource for the American Composers Forum under the new title Universal Design for Composer Equity and writing additional literature for the award-winning multimedia hub, I Care If You Listen.

Droki co-founded the Mississippi Valley Orchestra’s Composer Fellowship, served as the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity for the Millennium Composers Initiative for three years, and previously held teaching positions at the University of Miami, Ohio University, Hocking College, and Eastern Music Camp. Before succumbing to temporomandibular joint dysfunction, Droki was a freelance trumpeter and played in the 2017 off-Broadway show Guys and Dolls, Dizzy Gillespie Tribute Band, Phoenix Brass Quintet, RVA Big Band, and as a co-founder of the Largemouth Brass Band. Ouro currently directs the modular laptop ensemble JoULE, improvises with no-input mixers and vocoders, curates an online multimedia series called New Music Cafe, and develops audio plugins and digital samplers. Ouro also provides affordable composition lessons and consulting opportunities.

Originally from the Washington D.C. area, Droki holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Music in Composition from Ohio University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Droki has studied composition with Lansing McLoskey, Juraj Kojs, Tania Leon, George Lewis, Robert McClure, Allison Cameron, Bruce Russell, and Maria Schneider. Droki is currently an Assistant Professor/Director of Music Technology where they teach courses in audio engineering and production, acoustic and electronic composition, computer music programming, digital art, instrument modeling, sound design, spatial audio, studio recording, and synthesis.

During their undergraduate degree, they were a library ghostwriter for two AAA video game companies and co-opted Droki Ouro and Todroki as pseudonyms. Since 2023, they have continued as Droki Ouro in their creative and research pursuits, but otherwise go by their civilian name. Droki is a foodie, birder, and an amateur competitive Pokemon Showdown player (Rank 223, gen7 monotype; Rank 398, gen7 DOU; Rank 333, gen9 1v1).