Dr. Charles Ditto was born in Houston, Texas , the son of rockabilly guitarist/singer and a church pianist/organist. As part of an active musical family, he began studying piano, clarinet, and guitar at an early age. He received a BM in composition from the University of Houston in 1977, graduating Magna Cum Laude.  After relocating to Austin in 1980, Ditto established Ditto Records and Human Symphony Music, and has produced and marketed ten albums of original music to date.  He worked as a dance class pianist for 16 years at the University of Texas and Ballet Austin.  Other performance credits include the legendary Walter Hyatt, the Vanguards, Rajamani Gypsy Orchestra, Spencer Starnes, Larry Seyer, and country star Kevin Fowler.  He received a MM (1992) and DMA (1998) in composition from the University of Texas/Austin. His professional assignments have included commissioned scores for theater and dance for Peter Lobdell (New York and Amherst), the University of Texas, Amherst College, KO Theater Works, Inc., the Sharir Dance Co., Diana Prechter, Impulso (Mexico), Kenesis, and Austin Symphony oboist Ian Davidson.  His score for "Raving," was selected for performances at the International Michael Chekhov Festival (2005) and the Metropolitan Playhouse (2006) in New York. He was the recipient of the Copeland Fellowship at Amherst College (1998), and was awarded American Music Center’s (New York) Composer Assistance Award for 2007. Ditto was the National Association of Composers-USA first prize winner in 2008, and his music has been selected for publication on the prestigious Society of Composers, Inc. CD series on Capstone Records.  He has published articles on topics as diverse as Handel’s clock music and Cuban zarzuela and has presented seminars in Europe, Mexico, and the US. Ditto currently teaches at the School of Music at Texas State University in San Marcos.