Stanley Charkey was born in Brooklyn N.Y. in 1948. He holds degrees from the Hartt School of Music and the University of Massachusetts. For forty years he was a member of the faculty at Marlboro College in Vermont where he taught Music Theory, Composition, and History. He was the Luis Batlle Endowed Chair in Music at Marlboro. He retired in July of 2017.
His compositions include works for a variety of chamber ensembles, including the Apple Hill Chamber Players, cellist Paul Cohen, pianist Luis Batlle, and violist Michael Tree. In addition, he has written works for dance, theater, and television (PBS). He is a winner of the 1998 Renée B. Fisher Composer Award, 1997 VMTA Composer of the Year, and a frequent Fellow at the Ragdale Arts Foundation in Lake Forest Ill. and the Kimmel- Harding Center For the Arts in Nebraska.
He is also well known as a lutanist, former member of New York Pro Musica .He has performed extensively in the United States and Europe and can be heard on a number of recordings.