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Iris Derke is Co-Founder and General Director for DCINY, a major INC 5000 concert production company responsible for large-scale concerts at numerous prestigious concert venues. DCINY has brought together tens of thousands of talented artists and musicians from across the globe in performance. Ms. Derke is also a frequent collaborator with such esteemed artists as Eric Whitacre, Karl Jenkins and Christopher Tin, presenting numerous world and American premieres of their works. DCINY proudly celebrated their 10th Anniversary of concerts in 2018.
Ms. Derke is a major contributor to the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Chorus America, National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), and the International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM), among other organizations and is an invited presenter asked to share insight about the challenges of leading a successful arts organization in today’s era. She most recently presented at the Association of British Choral Directors Conference at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland, Glasgow.
A versatile artist, flautist Iris Derke’s performances have taken her throughout the world including concerto appearances with the TURKSOY Symphony Orchestra in Istanbul and Ankarra, Turkey; the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra in New York’s famed Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center; and in Bialystok, Poland with the Polish National Symphony. Her recent appearance at Lincoln Center with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra received much praise, for Ms. Derke’s “attentive and loving performance… (providing) celestial music…and heart-rendering sequences”. Ms. Derke can additionally be heard on numerous studio recordings with Disney, Columbia/RCA, and Apple Computers for film, television and educational music software. Ms. Derke recently appeared at Lincoln Center with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra performing the world premiere of a new Flute and Harp Concerto written by Dinos Constantinides for Ms. Derke and to commemorate DCINY’s 10th Anniversary Celebration.
As an avid seeker of life’s adventures, Ms. Derke has enjoyed a robust career as entrepreneur, musician, and producer and a love of sports. She has completed 2 ultra-marathons, trekking 155 miles over 7 day self-supported Racing the Planet Desert Runs through the Andes Mountains of Patagonia and through the Atacama Desert of Chile, in addition to annually participating in the NYC Marathon and NYC Triathlon. Originally from Santa Monica, California, Ms. Derke received education and ongoing training at UCLA, The Royal College of Music in London (United Kingdom), Manhattan School of Music and at Columbia University’s School of Business. Ms. Derke currently relishes her NYC residency status with her family, jazz educator and musician Rob Derke, and daughter Gabriella.
