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Soirée Cedille Celebrates Chicago’s Classical Music Community
Soirée Cedille, Cedille’s annual benefit on September 8, was an unforgettable celebration of music, community, and generosity! We are grateful and excited to announce that, thanks to your incredible support, we raised nearly $350,000 to further Cedille’s mission of recording and promoting Chicago’s brightest classical music performers and composers. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to making the event our most successful fundraiser to date!
The evening’s concert, featuring Black Oak Ensemble and Third Coast Percussion, was a celebration of collaboration and innovation. We were also deeply honored to be joined by renowned composers Jessie Montgomery, Ayanna Woods, and Shirley J. Thompson, whose presence and works added another layer of inspiration to the evening.
A special highlight of the night was honoring Richard W. Colburn with the Martin D. Ginsburg Award, recognizing his remarkable dedication to and support of Chicago’s classical music institutions. We also celebrated Uniting Voices with our Musical Partnership Award, a testament to their outstanding work that touches so many lives. Chicago’s musical community is overflowing with talent, and we are so fortunate to be part of a network that is continuously growing.
For those who were unable to join us (or for those who want to experience the magic again!), a full video of the concert is available here.
The excitement of Soirée Cedille didn’t stop at the conclusion of the evening. On the day after the event, Black Oak Ensemble reconvened to record Shirley Thompson’s Dance of the Night Sky, the piece that had its world premiere the night before. At Cedille, we take pride in ensuring that composers’ visions are realized in our recordings, and we were thrilled that Shirley Thompson came from her home in the UK to join us at the Soirée and for the recording of her work. Be on the lookout for the album — titled Dance of the Night Sky and set to be released in May 2025. It’s going to be something truly special!
SAVE THE DATE: Soirée Cedille 2025 will take place on Sunday, September 28. We hope to see you there! Here’s to many more nights of community, inspiration, and classical music magic!
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.
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.