Dori Díaz Jerez was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where she began her piano studies at the city’s Conservatory, graduating with Highest Honors under the guidance of Professor Jesús A. Rodríguez Martín.
She furthered her piano studies in New York with Solomon Mikowsky, while also receiving composition lessons from Giampaolo Bracali.
She later studied composition at the New School University – Mannes College of Music (New York), graduating with top honors under the direction of Robert Cuckson. She was awarded the Bohuslav Martinů Prize.
In 2005, her orchestral work Nocturnal premiered under the baton of I. Ramos Triano with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra.
In 2006, the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague performed her third symphonic work, commissioned by the 22nd Canary Islands Music Festival, conducted by Jaap van Zweden. In 2007, her organ work Continuum premiered, performed by organist Liuwe Tamminga as part of the Canary Islands Historical Organ Cycle.
That same year, she also premiered two songs for soprano and piano, performed by María Orán and Chiky Martín within the II Hispanic Music Cycle at the Teatro Guimerá in Tenerife.
Her chamber orchestra work Écliptique has been performed in several European cities during a tour by the Hungarian Chamber Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alberto Roque.
She has also represented Canarian music in concerts held in Beijing, Tokyo, New York, Toulouse, and Chicago during a tour by the Teobaldo Power String Quartet.
El Testamento, a chamber work inspired by texts by Elsa López, was performed in 2008 at the Freedom Tower in Miami and in 2010 at the Philharmonie in Essen, Germany.
Hyadae, a work for silbo gomero and string quartet, was performed in Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech in 2010, and in Sydney in 2011.
Helix, a work for percussion quartet, was performed at the Teatro della Società in Lecco within the International Physics Festival in 2011, held in Italy. The work was performed by the Tak-Nara Quartet.
She participated in the multidisciplinary project En el Tapete del Mar with the work for piano, clarinet, and percussion El Tiempo de la Mar, premiered at the Cervantes Institute in Stockholm in 2011.
She completed her doctoral studies under the supervision of Rosario Álvarez Martínez with a dissertation reflecting on new sonic perspectives and contemporary compositional approaches through the study of three works by composer Kaija Saariaho.
She also took part in the VI Tenerife Contemporary Music Festival with the premiere of Contrastes for viola d’amore, piano, and percussion in 2015.
In 2018, her work Prisma premiered with the OST under the baton of Martín Baeza Rubio, commissioned by Fundación SGAE and AEOS within the organization’s musical creation incentive program.
Omega, her most recent symphonic work, premiered in 2022, commissioned by the 38th Canary Islands Music Festival. It was performed by the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Karel M. Chichon.
She served as president of the Association of Symphonic Composers and Musicologists of Tenerife between 2011 and 2016.
Dori Díaz Jerez has collaborated on the R.A.L.S. CD project for the dissemination of the Musical Heritage of the Canary Islands.
She was a member of the Composition Department of the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias until 2023.
Since 2017, she has been a Full Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Miguel Arcángel.