Derek Charke is a Composer, a Flutist and an Assistant Professor of Music at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. His music is circling the globe thanks to commissions from the Kronos Quartet, the Katona Twins and the National Flute Association; performances by such luminary ensembles as the Group for Contemporary Music in New York City and the Xanthos Ensemble in Boston, and current commissions from ensembles such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. His music has been heard in such diverse venues as Carnegie Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Guggenheim Museum of Art, The Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, The Yukon Arts Centre and The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

Derek has composed well over 50 works for an array of ensembles, from solo instruments to large orchestra. Recent works increasingly pair electroacoustic elements, many derived from environmental sounds, with acoustic instruments. Ecological sound as an artistic statement on environmental issues has become an impetus for new pieces. His interest in the Arctic like-wise has played pivotal roles in many compositions.