The title Charon refers to the boatman who ferries dead souls across the river Acheron to the shores of Hell. The music itself isn’t intended to be expressly programmatic, but the otherworldly qualities brought about by the unison timbres of the clarinet, violin and cello as well as the slowly ascending melodic patterns, provide subtle allusions to the title. Perhaps equally relevant is the manner in which the piece gradually and methodically morphs from the five-note pattern of the opening to a very different ending point. Charon was written for the ai ensemble.

Charon for clarinet, violin and cello

Drew Baker is a Chicago-based composer and pianist. Described by the American Record Guide as "extremely inventive," Baker's music explores the many sonic identities of conventional and unconventional instrumentations, often taking into account visual art and politics.

Baker's complete piano music was recently recorded by renowned pianist Marilyn Nonken and <a href="http://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/drew-bakermarilyn-nonken-stress-position">released on New Focus Recordings</a>. Additionally, his works have been performed by a number of leading contemporary music ensembles including
<a href="http://taleaensemble.org/">The Talea Ensemble</a>, <a href="http://www.iceorg.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)</a>, <a href="http://dalniente.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ensemble Dal Niente</a>, The Group for Contemporary Music, <a href="http://www.moderecords.com/profiles/ensemble21.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ensemble21</a>, and <a href="http://www.chicagochambermusic.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chicago Chamber Musicians</a>. 

Baker earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music in Composition from Rice University and a Doctor of Music in Composition from Northwestern University. His primary composition teachers have included Marti Epstein, Augusta Read Thomas, Shih-Hui Chen, Karim Al-Zand and Jason Eckardt. Find out more at www.drewbakermusic.com.