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NEA Grant supports upcoming recording
Cedille is pleased to share that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded a grant in support of Black Being, an upcoming recording project featuring a recently co-composed work by acclaimed duo Flutronix (Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull). Joining Flutronix is Chicago’s leading chamber orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta (Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director). Black Being explores the black female experience in an evening-length music performance. For this immersive electroacoustic presentation the Flutronix duo set newly commissioned text by North Carolina poet laureate Jaki Shelton Green. Through themes of strength, sacrifice, beauty, fear, and survival, Black Being gives voice to the complexities of Black womanhood and provides a musical lens into black female cultural realities and conditions.
On the importance of recording this work, Joachim says:
“This project is a revolutionary opportunity and serves as a bold statement, by using the symphony orchestra, which is the pinnacle of western classical music … to elevate and celebrate Black women.”
Flutronix’s concert premiere of Black Being was lauded by the Chicago Tribune as “the most stunning live performance” and listed among Chicago’s Top 10 Classical Music shows of 2021. In 2022, the duo premiered the large-scale adaptation of the work (the version to be featured on this recording) with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mei-Ann Chen. Cedille looks forward to recording and releasing this project next year. Stay tuned for more updates!
Recommended
Commissioned by Cedille Records specially for our 2025 Emerging Artist Competition winner, oboist Oliver Talukder, as a companion for his Briefly Gorgeous album, Powder is a two-track single of Two Songs for voice, oboe/English horn, and piano by Delfin Demiray, who was Talukder’s classmate at the Curtis Institute of Music. The first song features Chicago mezzo, Sophia Maekawa, while Talukder performs the second song’s special effect and extended technique-infused vocal line himself (as an “overdub”), demonstrating yet another facet of his artistry.
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.
With the new month comes a new featured playlist on Spotify — or, in this case, a refresh of our Artist Debuts on Cedille playlist, originally created in 2022 to celebrate the inaugural album by the first Emerging Artist Competition winner, saxophonist Julian Velasco.
The update is to celebrate oboist Oliver Talukder, winner of Cedille’s second competition, as well as other artists who have made their Cedille debus since 2022. (Oliver’s track will be added on Friday when his album, Briefly Gorgeous, is released.)
Enjoy Cedille’s Weekly Featured Release.