Charles Harding is a sound artist and composer based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. His work grows out of deep listening and a desire to build empathy toward natural spaces and non-human interconnections. Trained in electroacoustic studies at Concordia University (BFA 2022), Harding often works with field recordings and environmental sound as a way of mapping memory and place. His projects frequently take him into rural and remote settings, where listening becomes a way of building connection to landscapes and communities he might not otherwise encounter.

Harding’s solo work traces these ideas across a range of albums and performances. Rain Beast (Patient Records, 2022) layered recordings from Fredericton and Montréal into collages that examined how urban environments echo and resist the natural world. Hellsö (Patient Records, 2024) emerged from a residency at the Åland Archipelago Guest Artist Residence on the Finnish island of Kökar. Built from pipe-organ improvisations recorded at the island’s museum and interwoven with field recordings, the work reflects on three sites: the mythical island of Källskär, monastic ruins housing an old sheep pen, and a wind-scoured hilltop in Hellsö looking out to the Baltic Sea. Synth textures composed after returning to Canada serve as emotional memory-maps of the island. The pieces highlight both human and non-human vulnerability, with the track “Hellsö” recalling a violent windstorm, snapping trees, and damaging wind turbines, reinforcing themes of sustainability, energy, and climate. Harding’s work on Hellsö and his collaborative album Quiet on Kökar was featured in a multi-page article in Musicworks Magazine (Issue 148, 2024).

His ongoing series Hum takes a different approach, using architectural resonances, building vibrations, and environmental sounds as raw material. Originating during an eight-month residency called Building Sounds at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre in Fredericton (2024–25), Hum draws on the auditory memory of the 140-year-old building and has since expanded into multichannel and improvisatory performances. The live version of Hum debuted at RE:FLUX 20 in Moncton (May 2025) and was later presented as an 8-channel performance at Schhh Vardagsrummet in Borrby, Sweden, during a solo residency in September 2025.

Alongside these projects, Harding has presented solo performances such as his international debut on a windy island hillside in Kökar, Finland (2023), Varieté Vågspel in Blekinge, Sweden (2024), and a set at Departures & Arrivals in Fredericton (2025).

Collaboration is another constant in Harding’s practice. With ceramic artist and poet Peter Thomas, he co-created Masque – Observances, Meditations (Saint John Arts Centre, 2025), an exhibition praised for its vibrancy and depth. Harding’s soundwork in Masque was shaped by field recording and video research at the Callanish standing stones in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Additionally, as a founding member of Trajectories Collective, with Malte Leander and Connor Cook, Harding has contributed to projects such as Blood & Breath (2023), Quiet on Kökar (2024), and Ecomorphia (2025), a 15-channel soundscape installed at Calgary Arts Commons (aka Werklund Centre). Trajectories has performed in Canada,  Denmark, and Sweden, often presenting works that mix electroacoustic composition with live performance and video.

Alongside his sound art, Harding plays with Pallmer, a chamber-pop ensemble from Fredericton. With Pallmer he has toured across Canada and performed at major festivals and industry events including Pop Montréal, Contact East, the Music NB Awards, and Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival (2024). The group has appeared on CBC’s East Coast Music Hour, toured with Sam Tudor, and shared stages with a wide range of artists, including opening for Daniel Lanois at Fredericton’s Harvest Music Festival.

Harding’s background also includes years of playing in rock bands such as Cellarghost, Shriven, and Provincial Camps, and leading the electronic music project Property//. These projects have reinforced and laid the groundwork for the hybrid, collaborative nature of his current work.

As a cultural worker, Harding has supported festivals and artist-run initiatives across Eastern Canada. He coordinated the 2022 edition of Montréal’s SIGHT+SOUND festival at Eastern Bloc, which was nominated for the Conseil des arts de Montréal’s Grand Prix. In Fredericton, he contributes to the Shivering Songs Festival, helping to sustain a community hub for songwriters, audiences, and visiting artists in the depths of winter, and to the FLOURISH Festival, an annual multi-arts event that connects local musicians and artists with international peers.