Charles Rose is a composer, writer and sound engineer born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He holds a masters degree in Music from Portland State, graduating in 2023. His piano trio Contradanza was the 2018 winner of the Chamber Music Northwest’s Young Composers Competition. He has studied composition with Yuan-Chen Li, David Schiff, Bonnie Miksch, Ryan Francis, and Renee Favand-See. In addition to composing, he has worked as Lead Editor of the Portland State music journal Subito. You can find more of his writing at Oregon ArtsWatch.
Charles Rose has done a little bit of everything musically. He is a (mostly) self-taught multi-instrumentalist, beginning with drums at age ten before teaching himself piano, guitar and bass. He played marching snare drum in high school alongside piano in the jazz band. At college he focused on composition and music production, and began writing for Oregon Arts Watch and the Portland State University music journal Subito.
Charles’ earliest compositions were attempts at writing Bach-like fugues and canons. His classical compositions take from a wide array of influences, including jazz, impressionism, spectralism and minimalism. Taking inspiration from the natural world and natural phenomena, his music combines lyrical melodies with rich harmonies and complex textures.
He has released music under various aliases. His efforts at composition, instrumental performance and production culminated in his 2022 album There is Another World, released under the name Psychogeography. The project has been compared to Atheist, King Crimson, Miles Davis and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, combining influences from jazz fusion, post rock, progressive metal and noise music.
Outside of music, Charles enjoys going for long bike rides, playing soccer, and reading about world history.