ARU mourns death of sound designer De Irisarri, 33

Ana De Irisarri was a sound designer, musician and DJ

The year ended on a sad note for the ARU staff with the death of bilingual sound designer / composer / DJ Ana De Irisarri, 33, on Dec. 14 at her Chicago home from undetermined causes.

A native of Bogata, Columbia, who had enjoyed a fulfilling music career in Buenos Aires, De Irisarri moved to Chicago in 2013 to continue her musical and creative pursuits. She joined ARU as an intern in May, 2015 and soon thereafter became a full-time ARU staffer.

“Ana was special . In the 18 months that she was with us, she filled our lives with smiles and warmth and a zest for life. She will be sorely missed,” the ARU staff said in a statement.

De Irisarri had earned two bachelor’s degrees: in Music from Javerian University in Bogotá and in Music Recording Arts and Music Production from the Ceartec Center of Art and Technology in Buenos Aires. In Chicago, she graduated from Tribeca Flashpoint with honors and a creative scholar award in May, 2015 prior to joining ARU.

She spent eight years in Buenos Aires as a sound designer for film and TV, electronic music production and theatre musicals live sound. She also led the sound crew for award-winning musicials for Teleset S.A. International Productions, a Sony Pictures Television division, on such top rated TV shows as “Columbia’s Got Talent” and “Against the Ropes.”

In the U.S., De Irisarri performed as a DJ. She was also a musician, producing her own electronic music. Her most recent deep house, 4-track EP, “Intuition,” was released in November.