Charles Shadle

Charles Shadle is a Senior Lecturer in Music at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he serves as Theory Coordinator. Based in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, he teaches composition, music theory, and music history while maintaining an active career as a composer. His work has been commissioned by institutions including SUNY Buffalo, Longwood Opera, The Lake George Opera Festival, The Handel and Haydn Society, and The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

Shadle's research and creative practice bridges contemporary classical composition with his Choctaw heritage. As an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, his works like the Oklahoma Choctaw Cycle and the accessible piano series "Choctaw Animals" explore cultural preservation through music. His compositions often reflect American landscapes, particularly the High Plains of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Rockies—regions tied to his childhood and creative imagination.

His article output shows strong engagement with symphonic structures (Symphony No.3, Symphony No.4), vocal works (Primordia, Missa Brevis Sanctii Oswaldi), and chamber music (Dogtown Common, Three Chardin Fantasies). The "Three Chardin Fantasies" emerged from a MIT-Handel and Haydn Society residency, while "The Far Blue Hills" (2021) and "Symphony No.4" (2022) represent current projects drawing from Mvskoke poetry and sonic memorialization concepts.

• SHASS Levitan Teaching Award (2016)

Shadle collaborates frequently with librettist Michael Ouellette on operatic works like "Coyotes Diner" and "A Question of Love," and has created six commercially available film scores for the National Film Preservation Foundation. His music appears in MIT Symphony Orchestra programs and London-based ensemble Lontano commissions.