Bio

A nonbinary person looks at the camera with one eyebrow slightly raised. A hint of a smile, or perhaps a smirk, plays at eir lips. They wear stud earrings, a forest green shirt, and a black leather biker jacket. Their brown hair is shaved close to their head.
A nonbinary person smirks at the camera, an eyebrow slightly raised. Their hair is in a short buzzcut, and ey are wearing stud earrings, a forest green shirt, and an oversized jean jacket. They stand in front of a cinderblock wall with an inlaid brick archway and wooden gate.
Eris, a nonbinary interdisciplinary narrative artist, stands in front of a cinderblock wall adorned with graffiti that reads "GHOST 87." Their hair is in a short buzz cut; they wear stud earrings and a black leather jacket. Ey are smiling with one eyebrow slightly raised.
A nonbinary person with a short buzz cut leans against a cinderblock wall. They are wearing a forest green shirt and a black leather biker jacket.
A nonbinary person wearing black jeans, black boots, a forest green shirt, and a leather biker jacket gazes down at the camera. They stand in front of a cinderblock wall bearing graffiti reading "GHOST."

“more serious” bio

Eris DeJarnett (ey/they) is an interdisciplinary narrative artist and educator working with music, text, and movement to examine power structures, community, and queerness within and beyond the performing arts and academia. Hailed as having “a keen affinity for vulnerability, in both eirself and others,” eir musical catalog explores sexual assault, rape culture, trauma, gender, and recovery, often centering the human voice amidst soundscapes of experimental and noise-based practices. Eris’ work also emphasizes the importance of personal development at the performer’s own pace—musically and in life—and as such, they regularly work with student musicians and developing performers to craft pieces that suit their individual needs.

Eris’ work as an educator has included teaching trumpet, composition, popular music history, and technology-centered career strategies at the postsecondary level. Beyond their institutional service, they also teach a variety of musical and queer identity topics via their Discord server and Twitch channel. Ey has given guest lectures for a range of audiences, including at SUNY Potsdam, Arizona State University, and Brass Out Loud. Eris also engages in policy and structural analysis on their website via the written word and as a consultant for a variety of performing arts organizations.

Eris holds an MFA from the Performer-Composer program at CalArts and a BM in Theory and Composition from Arizona State University. Eir primary teachers include Mattie Barbier, Nicholas Deyoe, Tim Feeney, Kotoka Suzuki, and Jody Rockmaker. They currently live in the Pacific Northwest. In eir spare time, you can find em advocating for trans kids and learning how to be a trans adult. To learn more about Eris’ work, please visit https://erisdejarnett.com.

“more fun” bio

Eris DeJarnett is a composer, performer, and theatermaker who arrived at music school having been fed a steady diet of musicals only to discover the only things the curriculum cared about were symphonies and operas. After a turbulent undergraduate education which led peers to describe their composing as “writing with the force of a blizzard,” constant belittling and tokenization by various performance faculty at ASU led Eris to pursue a Performer-Composer degree at CalArts out of spite. Along the way, ey began writing music about sexual assault and rape culture, branching out from there into gendered power dynamics more broadly and generally making music about Things Not Traditionally Presented In Concert Halls(TM). Eris describes this musical practice succintly: “I enjoy making people cry.”

Hailed by their enemies as “a strong voice for social justice,” Eris’ musical endeavors and positionality necessarily inform their teaching and community management work. After deciding to focus first and foremost on projects that, in the words of Marie Kondo, “spark joy,” they have devoted much more time to the things that matter most: listening to more pop-punk and musical theater, moderating a number of Discord servers, enjoying the music of Rocket League and World of Warcraft (among other games), forgetting every other task thanks to their ADHD, writing more music, and spending time with eir partner and two cats, Marty and Lucas.

Eris’ writing has been featured by Brass Chicks and the Tuba-Euphonium Social Justice Initiative. They have been cited by I Care If You Listen and plagiarized by the Institute for Composer Diversity. Eris’ family has recently relocated from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest, where they are all enjoying cooler temperatures while Eris continues to create words and music alike. Ey will release a new album, From the Ashes, by the end of 2022.

Keep in touch!

Want to keep up with me? Join my mailing list to receive updates about performances, collaborations, and new works, and become a Patron if you like the work I do and want to help me keep doing it! You can also join my Discord server if you’d like to come to informal lectures and follow me on Twitch if games and social commentary are your thing. If you have a question or opportunity to share, contact me directly at: eris [at] erisdejarnett [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!