Derek Douglas Carter
About
Derek Douglas Carter (b.1994, he/him) is a composer, conductor, and artist currently residing in Kentucky. His music has been performed across the Midwest, New England, the South, as well as in Canada, Poland, and Spain. Carter has been a festival participant in the Charlotte New Music Festival, Synthetis Summer Courses, the Valencia International Performance Academy, the Loretto Project, and Domaine Forget. He has worked with ensembles and soloists including the Illinois State Symphonic Winds, University of Louisville Symphony Orchestra, University of Louisville Sinfonietta, Orchestra Enigmatic, Ensemble Dal Niente, Beo String Quartet, E-Mex Ensemble, Ensemble Paramirabo, Longleash Trio, Durward Ensemble, Orlando Cela, Parker Ramsey, Mieko Kanno, and a plethora of student performers.
While pursuing a BM in Music Composition and Theory at Illinois State, Carter collaborated with poets, directors, choreographers, and improvisors to create new interdisciplinary works of art while also founding a music ensemble to promote music from living composers to foster an interest in contemporary music in the local community. Through his work with the composers collective/experimental trio AmiEnsemble, Carter has continued to collaborate with more artists of many disciplines to create experimental new work, often incorporating text and speech in concert settings as well as theatrical elements in solo and small chamber pieces. In each piece there is a focus on the abstract, ineffable, and dreamlike nature of communication, emphasizing the role of a living human performing the work as well as the musically noisey sounds they make. After finishing an MM in Music Composition at the University of Louisville in 2019, Carter continued his studies of music, obtaining an MM in Orchestral Conducting under the supervision of Kimcherie Lloyd in 2020.
