Flute
As well as composing and teaching I also play the flute. Mostly I specialize in contemporary music, especially music since 1945, but I also play other genres. I continue to freelance as a performer and improvisor. I have a Masters degree in flute performance from SUNY Buffalo where I studied with the late Cheryl Gobbetti Hoffman. Recent performances have included more improvisatory settings with performers such as Mark Adam and Daniel Heikalo, as well as in Halifax and on various concerts at Acadia University. I continue to freelance where and when time permits. During my masters degree I performed in master classes with Robert Dick, Peter Lloyd and Mathias Ziegler. My final masters recital included the works of Salvatore Sciarrino and Pierre Boulez. I've performed several solo recitals including a concert of all Canadian composers at the 2005 Pantasmagoria flute festival, and I competed as a soloist in the 2005 Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition in Amsterdam.
I've written extensively for the flute. WARNING! Gustnadoes Ahead for solo flute and CD was commissioned for the 2008 National Flute Association Convention. Raga Cha was premiered by the London Flutes in England and has since been performed numerous times throughout Europe and North America. Other works include Disturbances of Circadian Rhythm and Lumière Immobile for flute and computer (Max/MSP); Rain, Straight Ahead, both for solo flute; Three Duets for flute and marimba; Distant Voices I and II for flute and piano; "Cross-Talk" for flute ensemble; and "Lachrymose" for solo piccolo. For my Ph.D. dissertation I wrote The Winds of Winter for solo flute and chamber orchestra.
Listen to Raga Saat, (performed by Derek Charke: multitracked flutes)
Quotes
“On the second half, Charke returned to play Brian Ferneyhough’s Cassandra’s Dream Song for solo flute. Ferneyhough threw the kitchen sink at the performer with tremolos, multiphonics, tongue rams, key clicks, whistle tones, bent pitches and fourth octave notes, all arranged in a rapid fire series of gestures which also included singing and playing at the same time. Charke described the technique as The New Complexity, in introducing this remarkable work. His mastery of everything Ferneyhough demands of the player was mind-boggling."
– Stephen Pedersen, The Chronicle Herald from 2009
"Derek Charke, the first musician to be featured in this program, played his [ Willim Jeths' ] work "Dwaalicht" from 1995 with stunning authority. His interesting piece was a mixture of the visual arts, spoken word, and flute."
– Spectrum (SUNY Buffalo) from 2005
"The conclusion of the piece brought the audience to their feet and the ovation was so loud and extended that Charke returned to the stage for a second bow after exiting the stage and the concert room."
– Spectrum (SUNY Buffalo) from 2001
