Jacob Charles (雅各布) 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 currently the director of ERMu Labs, an arts research institute in Shanghai. The Institute supports the Creative Arts department at FaceArt Institute of Music, where he teaches composition, computer music, and interactive 3D art. Jacob is also the co-founder and director of the KONGQU ensemble, a cross-disciplinary performance group that brings artists together for experimental performance and collaborative creation.
Jacob’s personal work ranges from notated and improvised music for qin, Chinese and Western instruments, to interactive installations that merge performance, technology, and environmental listening. As an ink maker and visual artist, he explores Chinese literati aesthetics and philosophy through contemporary form, treating sound, ink, and image as extensions of the same practice. His qin opera 7LANDSCAPES 七景 was staged in parallel with his landscape painting exhibition at Zhao Xiaoxia’s qin studio and art space in Beijing.
He has given lectures, performances, and exhibitions in China, Mexico, the United States, Japan, Belgium, Ireland, and Italy.