Derek Charke is an 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 as a flutist on a number of albums including: Ex Tempore, Kitchen Party, In Sonorous Falling Tones, Bathymetric Terrains, and The Equation of Time. Derek is a professor of music at Acadia University where he teaches composition and music theory. As a flutist/composer, one of his passions is writing for the flute and flute ensemble.