Concert Producer. Flutist. Ultramarathoner. Writer. Sober-minded adventurer. Fully, finally, New York.
This is a space for stories, lessons, and dispatches from a life lived at full volume. From the concert halls of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the deserts of Patagonia, Mongolia, and the Atacama, from the streets of New York City to the quieter, harder terrain of sobriety and self-discovery. The static is gone. The writing has begun.
More about Iris:
Iris Derke
Co-Founder and General Director, DCINY | Entrepreneur | Concert Producer | Flutist | Writer | Ultramarathoner | Sober-Minded Adventurer
Iris Derke is a New York City-based writer, musician, concert producer, and adventurer currently completing a memoir drawn from decades of stories spanning the concert halls of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the desert trails of Patagonia and Mongolia, the streets of NYC, and the quieter, harder terrain of sobriety and self-discovery.
DCINY: The Work
Iris is Co-Founder and General Director of DCINY, a concert production company presenting large-scale performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and prestigious venues worldwide since 2008. Under her leadership, DCINY has united tens of thousands of artists from across the globe and earned recognition eight times on Inc. Magazine’s 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.
As a creative collaborator, Iris has worked with renowned composers including Eric Whitacre, Sir Karl Jenkins, Heather Sorenson, and Christopher Tin, presenting numerous world and American premieres. She served as Executive Producer on the CD Messiah Refreshed! featuring the Royal Philharmonic at Abbey Road Studios, and has brought landmark productions including Eric Whitacre’s Paradise Lost to stages in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Watch the “What Do You Do?” feature on DCINY.
Musical Artist
An accomplished flutist and Manhattan School of Music graduate, Iris has performed internationally with orchestras including the TURKSOY Symphony in Turkey, the Polish National Symphony, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, and DCINY’s Distinguished Concert Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Notable recent appearances include world premieres written specifically for her, including Dinos Constantinides’ Flute and Harp Concerto at Lincoln Center and Matej Mestrovic’s Flautando in Zagreb. Watch the Zagreb Opera House performance.
Industry Leadership
A sought-after speaker on arts leadership and entrepreneurship, Iris has presented at the Association of British Choral Directors in Glasgow and the National Student Leadership Conference at Columbia University. Her insights have been featured in Inc. Magazine and Business Insider. She proudly serves on the Chorus America board.
The Writing Life
Iris writes about the intersections of adventure, sobriety, music, running, and what it means to finally see yourself clearly. Her essays and blog posts draw on Stoic and Buddhist philosophy, hard-won lessons from the trail and the concert stage, and the particular texture of life in New York City. She is currently completing Camera Dark, a life memoir built around three pillars: sober-minded living, the real business of showing up, and running as metaphor for everything. It is not a recovery memoir. It is the book she wishes someone had handed her.
Running and Adventure
A PADI-certified Rescue Scuba Diver and ultra-endurance athlete, Iris has completed multiple 155-mile, 7-day self-supported Racing the Planet desert races across Patagonia, Mongolia, Chile’s Atacama Desert, and Finland’s Arctic Circle. She is a proud back-of-the-pack NYC Marathon finisher, nine-time and counting, running for the journey, the conversations, and the reminder that forward is always enough.
The Sober-Minded Journey
Iris is open about her sobriety journey and writes candidly about what it has revealed about self-worth, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves. The tools that make a whole life possible, Stoicism, community, movement, and writing, are woven throughout her work. She is an active member of the Sober Sis community and believes that the most powerful thing one person can offer another is honest witness.
A California Girl, Now Fully New York
Originally from Santa Monica, California, Iris was educated at UCLA, The Royal College of Music in London, Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia University’s School of Business. She lives and writes in New York City.
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Iris DERKE 