Derek Charke is a JUNO and four-time ECMA award-winning composer, flutist and educator. Equally at home performing cutting-edge contemporary music or participating in free improvisation as he is performing Bach or Vivaldi, he actively performs as a soloist, new music improviser and chamber musician. He performs with guitarist Eugene Cormier in the Charke~Cormier Duo and appears on a number of award-winning CDs, including: Ex Tempore, Kitchen Party, In Sonorous Falling Tones, and his latest release, Bathymetric Terrains. Derek is a professor of music at Acadia University where he teaches composition and music theory. He also heads AEMS (the Acadia Electroacoustic Music Studio). As a flutist/composer, one of his passions is writing for the flute and flute ensemble.