Why compose...
I love to express stories through music and explore the visceral space that surrounds them. Sometimes I’m interested in creating sound collages, other times I surrender to something lyrical. I feel ridiculously compelled to make sense of the world and it comforts me when I am able to organize sounds into a narrative that invites discovery and reflection, bridging the gap from the unfamiliar to something ancestral and relatable.
Works
Adesse (2026)
For flute and piano, "9 min
Canyon Dance (2026)
For string orchestra, Level 3, "3 min
Video/Audio | Program Notes | Score
Teacher/Creator, Wait a Minute (2026)
For vox ensemble, piano, Rhodes, cello, bass clarinet "30 min
In progress
Un-controlling (2022)
For e-bow, vcl, pn; arrangement vcl, e-gtr, perc. "9
Because of Her (2022)
For piano, violin, viola, cello, vibraphone, bass drum, DAW "10
Video/Audio | Program Notes | Score
Retrospects in Reverb (2025)
For piano, "10 min
Video/Audio | Program Notes | Score
Suspiro (2025)
For bass clarinet and cello, "10 min
Video/Audio | Program Notes | Score
Dinner Chats, I-VI (2022)
For pn, Rhodes, or two pianos, "30 Video/Audio | Program Notes | Score
Film
La Mer un/like Debussy's
DEMO Music by Dika Chartoff
From the documentary "OCEANS" (2009)
My Life had Stood a Loaded Gun
Directed by Miguel Coyula | Actress Lynn Cruz | Lyrics by Emily Dickinson
Music composed and performed by Dika Chartoff
Produced, arranged, and performed by Nayfo in London
Knife Point (2009) - End Cue
Directed by Carlo MIrabella-Davis
Original Music by Dika Chartoff
Sundance Official Selection 2009
Maurice Kanbar Institute Award for Best Score
Down in Number 5
Directed by Kim Spurlock
Original Music by Dika Chartoff
Student Academy Award Winner, 2010
Memories of Overdevelopment
(2010) - Sundance New Frontier
Directed by Miguel Coyula | Original Music by Dika Chartoff
Sundance Film Festival 2010 Official Selection
Best Original Score - New Filmmakers Festival Havana 2011
Hommage a Ravel - Oiseaux
Tristes
Animation by Psyop
DEMOl Music by Dika Chartoff
Variables
Directed by Sabina Vajraca
Original Music by Dika Chartoff
BAFTA Student Film Award
HUMANITAS Prize Nominee
Choreography
un-controlling
For vibraphone, electric guitar, and cello
La Mer
Electronics, sound samples, and electric guitar
Mind Waltz and Horoscope
Electronics