Derek Charke

From Wind Repertory Project
Derek Charke

Biography

Derek Charke (b. 1974, Fredericton, Can.) is a Canadian composer, educator and flutist.

Dr. Charke attended the University of North Texas, the Royal Academy of Music in London, England, the Koninklijk Conservatorium in the Hague, and the State University of New York at Buffalo where he received a Ph.D. in composition. His composition teachers included David Felder, Louis Andriessen, Steve Martland, Paul Patterson, Cindy McTee, and Martin Mailman. Derek also earned a master’s degree in flute performance from SUNY Buffalo where he studied with the late Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman. During his undergraduate degree he studied trumpet with Dr. Leonard Candelaria, while also pursuing the flute.

Dr. Charke is a JUNO and four-time ECMA award-winning composer with a catalogue of over 100 available works. He has had various high profile commissions and performances, including several by Canada’s major symphony orchestras, Duo Turgeon, Cheng2 Duo, Land’s End Ensemble, WIRED!, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, the Kronos Quartet, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet, as well as an impressive list of other performers and organizations. His music is eclectic, often defying categorization due to wide-ranging influences. Described as minimalist and post-minimal, modernist, inventive, rich textured, full of colour, and imbued with drama and rhythmic vitality, his compositions often incorporate tonality and/or modality, electronics and soundscapes, explorations of contemporary instrumental techniques, and improvisation. He attempts to speak to a wide-ranging audience. Electroacoustic music is an interest, as well as exploration of environmental issues and phenomena

Currently [2019] a professor of music at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, he teaches composition and music theory. He also heads AEMS, the Acadia Electroacoustic Music Studio. As a professional flutist he actively performs as a soloist, chamber and studio musician, and new music improviser. He is a member of the Charke ~ Cormier Duo, a flute and guitar duo, and an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.


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