Biography

 Charles started his musical career at an early age as a jazz trumpeter. While expanding on his knowledge of music and his musical abilities, he started conducting at the age of 13. By the end of his high school career, Charles had already composed music for different chamber ensembles and was proficient in most wind instruments.

Throughout his college career, Charles focused his studies in the areas of music composition and theory, orchestral conducting, and trumpet performance. He graduated in 1996 from Michigan State University with degrees in Music Composition and Music Theory. Upon graduation, Charles held the position of Assistant Music Director of the Warren Wind Symphony and the Great Lakes Symphony Orchestra. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1997 to pursue a career as a film composer.

Charles’ professional career in Los Angeles has been divided between three major categories: composing music for film and television, classical composition, and conducting. After working at Remote Control Productions (formerly Media Ventures) Charles started Dark Element Music to focus on film and television scoring. His film credits include Hellraiser: Deader, Undiagnosed, Black Red Yellow (which Charles was nominated for best score at the Action on Film International Film Festival), and the television shows ESPN Sports Century, Environment, and Reel 4 Real, among many others. As a guest conductor and composer, Charles has done two tours of England, a tour of Taiwan, and most recently a tour of the Hawaiian Islands. He has written classical music for many different mediums including orchestra, wind ensemble, electronic, and many different chamber ensembles. He also wrote the music to the off Broadway musical Neva-Eh - Prince of Black Angels, which opened in Los Angeles in September 2007. Charles currently resides in Beverly Hills, California.