QIN PLAYER AND INTERMEDIA ARTIST

Jacob Charles (雅各布) was born 1987 in New Mexico, USA. He graduated from Texas A&M University, studying composition and computer music under Dr. Jeff Morris. He finished his studies in Japan under the guidance of Dr. Martin Regan where he studied traditional Japanese performing arts and composition.

 

After graduating, Jacob moved to China, studying guqin performance. He was awarded a 4 year scholarship to pursue advanced studies in guqin and composition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He studied qin under Guqin Master Zhao Xiaoxia, and composition with Professor Ye Xiaogang. His guqin compositions and performances focus on structured improvisation and extended techniques. Jacob previously held a lecturer position at the Central Conservatory of Music, teaching a doctoral course on the relationship of American music and literature. 

 

He is a founder and director of ERMu LABS, a composition and intermedia institute. The curriculum focuses on music composition, computer music and interactive 3D art. Jacob is also the director of the KONGQU ensemble, a cross-disciplinary performance group bringing artists together for experimental performance and composition.

 

In 2023 Jacob premiered his guqin opera, 7LANDSCAPES followed by a solo exhibition of his landscape paintings and installations at Zhao Xiaoxia’s performance and art space Miao Temple. Jacob’s paintings, “Cultivated Landscapes” Use inks and pigments that he makes by hand from plants and minerals in his Shanghai Studio Garden.

 

Jacob’s musical interests are in the performance of and composition for traditional Chinese instruments. He enjoys traveling to different areas of China to study traditional folk musics, including Xinjiang Muqam under professor Ayshemgul Memet and to Quanzhou to study Nanyin with Cai Yayi. Jacob enjoys fusing his compositions with traditional musics of China, elements of American music and mixed-media as a way to create a cultural bridge between the two countries. His works and installations have been performed in China, Mexico, USA, Japan, Belgium and Italy.