Each year, approximately five-hundred billion plastic cups are used, of which roughly six billion end up in landfills. ...grind... attempts to symbolize the faulty business and political ideologies that ultimate contribute to a lack of environmental sustainability through the destructive morphology of a single sound source: a plastic Keurig coffee pod hitting the floor. 

...grind... was inspired by Donkey Coffee's Fair Trade Coffee initiative and their continued commitment to Zero Waste.

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| Droki Ouro (b. 1996) is a Tennessee-based composer, researcher, and educator. Described as “patiently evocative” (George Lewis) and “unsettling, [yet] interesting” (Cycling ’74), Ouro’s music longs for the experiential allure of balance and introspection. Much of their music blends pictorial properties with organizing principles of philosophical and sociological intent. Their recent works engage disability masking and temporality as an apparatus for acoustic and electronic media.

Droki’s research interests are primarily driven by composer advocacy and DEIA. Their presentation entitled Recent Trends in Composition Calls and Competitions addresses the inequities of the call for scores, competition, and residency ecosystem through a statistical analysis of over five-hundred surveyed composition opportunities. Droki has presented Recent Trends at numerous conferences including the Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC!), PASIC, and New Music Gathering. They have also presented several forums on the topic at Duke University, Montana State University, and the University of Miami. They are currently developing literature with the American Composers Forum that expands on Recent Trends by distilling several short- and long-term solutions. Droki currently serves as the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity for the Millennium Composers Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to supporting developing composers through commissioning and performance opportunities. 
Droki’s music has been featured at festivals worldwide including the Aspen Music Festival, NYCEMF, and Cube Fest. Their music has been performed by Hypercube, Duo Sequenza, and ensemble vim, among others. They have held residencies with Arts Letters & Numbers and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Their music is featured on several record labels including Navona Records, Petrichor Records, and RMN Music. Droki’s music has been selected for over one-hundred calls for scores and competitions, including prizes from the Ensemble Ibis, MAP, and Robert Avalon competitions and a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Current and upcoming projects include collaborations with the Brightfire Collective, JoULE, Ithaca College Orchestra, and jackrabbit, a digital opera fusing the model collapse of AI and corporate math with screamo and breakcore. 

Originally from the Washington D.C. area, Droki holds a BM in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University, an MM in Composition from Ohio University, and a DMA from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Droki currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Music Technology where they teach courses in computer music programming, sound design, synthesis, instrument modeling, studio recording, digital art, and composition. Droki has studied composition with Lansing McLoskey, Dorothy Hindman, Juraj Kojs, Tania Leon, George Lewis, Robert McClure, and Maria Schneider.

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drɔ-ˈki ˈow-ɾʊ