Discover
Artist Spotlight | Julian Velasco
In celebration of Cedille’s upcoming album release, As We Are, we are proud to feature saxophonist Julian Velasco, winner of Cedille’s first Emerging Artist Competition, in our Artist Spotlight series, where Chicago’s classical artists discuss the music important to them.
From Julian: As We Are is the result of a powerful moment of realization I experienced last year. For years, I struggled to fit neatly within a singular description of myself. There are a multitude of identifiers that I ascribed to myself saying, “My identity is a mixture of American, Canadian, and Mexican cultures… classical, jazz, and popular musical backgrounds.” However, this list of (well-intentioned) labels felt reductive at best, exclusionary at worst. I frequently found myself unable to answer convincingly the question, “Where do I fit in?” In April 2021, I watched my friend Steven Banks premiere his new work, Come As You Are. In his performance notes, he shared his thoughts about accepting his own plurality as a form of strength and opportunity. That performance and those notes brought me considerable affirmation in my own journey towards individuation. Subsequently, it inspired this collection of music celebrating plurality rather than dividing and isolating personal and musical identities, culminating in a collaborative work that celebrates us as we are.
Julian expands on inspiration for his debut solo album in the video below.
As We Are is now available to order. To learn more about the project and purchase, click below.
Recommended
Pacifica Quartet
Contemporary Voices
Buffy Baggott, Lincoln Trio, John Bruce Yeh
The Billy Collins Suite: Songs Inspired by his Poetry
Leo Sowerby
Leo Sowerby: The Paul Whiteman Commissions & Other Early Works
James M. Stephenson, Lake Forest Symphony, Vladimir Kulenovic
Symphony No. 3, “Visions”
Recommended
Pacifica Quartet’s final album in the American Collections trilogy – American Portraits. Bringing together touchstones of the American repertoire, American Portraits features some of the most canonical American chamber works alongside world premiere recordings of two newly commissioned works.
Winner of Cedille Records’ 2025 Emerging Artist Competition, Chicago-born oboist Oliver Talukder makes his solo recording debut with Briefly Gorgeous. Joined by pianist Moriah Trenk, Talukder presents an album inspired by themes of identity, love, family, and belonging. Drawing on his Mexican and Bengali heritage and his Chicago upbringing, the program explores where classical music intersects with Latino and South Asian traditions, creating a musical portrait shaped by Talukder’s unique story.
To celebrate the Oct. 9 release of American Portraits, the Pacifica Quartet‘s 18th album for Cedille, a playlist with a track from each of its Cedille albums, in chronological order, starting with its very first CD in 1999.