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Relive our Celebration of Chicago’s Musical Brilliance
Cedille Records’ annual benefit, Soirée Cedille, brought together Chicago’s classical music community for an unforgettable evening of artistry and camaraderie. A celebration of the city’s rich musical landscape, the event raised over $450,000 while uniting arts patrons, musicians, and professionals from Chicago’s leading music organizations in a shared commitment to sustaining the arts.
The evening featured extraordinary performances by baritone Will Liverman, whose career continues to soar after his time at the Ryan Opera Center and the release of multiple recordings on Cedille Records, and oboist Oliver Talukder, winner of Cedille’s 2025 Emerging Artist Competition (who just completed three days of recording for his debut album). Joined by pianists Kuang-Hao Huang and Moriah Trenk, respectively, their performances captured the spirit of the evening — showcasing the talent, creativity, and dedication that make Chicago’s classical scene so remarkable.
In addition to these inspiring performances, the evening included the bestowal of two special awards. In recognition of their extraordinary support of Chicago’s classical music community, we were delighted to present Helen Zell with the Martin D. Ginsburg Award and the Ravinia Festival with our Musical Partnership Award.
Videos of both performances and the two award presentations are now available HERE. Take a moment to enjoy this celebration of community, artistry, and the music that connects us all.
Save-the-Date: next year’s Soiree Cedille benefit will be held on Sunday, September 27, 2026.
Recommended
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.
Grammy Award-winning violinist Jennifer Koh’s 16th album on Cedille Records, The American Concerto, Volume One, features Vijay Iyer’s Trouble and the world premiere recording of Courtney Bryan‘s Syzygy, performed with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Tim Weiss.
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.