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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
From Chicago-based composter Stacy Garrop comes INVICTUS, Latin for “unconquered.” The work unfolds across four movements and an interlude, moving between lyrical introspection, fierce determination, and triumphant resolve, with Grammy-nominated pianist Marta Aznavoorian and the Chicago Philharmonic under the direction of Artistic Director Scott Speck. Available 5/8.
Haymarket Opera Company presents early-18th-century master Leonardo Vinci’s rare operatic gem, Artaserse (1730). A prominent figure of the Neapolitan School of opera, whose work influenced composers such as Johann Adolph Hasse and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Vinci’s three-act opera seria centers on the Persian prince, Artaserse, who must bring his father’s murderer to justice amidst betrayal, deceit, and mistaken identity.
To celebrate Stacy Garrop‘s piano concerto, INVICTUS (5/8 release), based on a poem about perseverance and resilience in adversity, a playlist of Cedille tracks that represent struggle against prohibitive odds — explicitly in words or as program music, or inherently in their musical nature.
Enjoy 25% off Cedille’s Weekly Featured Release.