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Cedille Supporters Come Together for Alone Together
Violinist Jennifer Koh, a Chicago native, has long been dedicated to showcasing the work of contemporary composers. Even as she saw her own income plummet due to cancelled engagements during the pandemic, she developed a program of new commissions to support freelance composers and showcase their work.
As she remarked to Michael Andor Brodeur of the Washington Post early in the pandemic, “I thought, I could spend this period of time being scared, curled up in a ball in the corner of the apartment or I could spend this time only thinking about my own survival. Or I could spend this time and try to help as many people as I can.”
Twenty composers, most of whom have salaried positions or other forms of institutional support to carry them through this challenging time, agreed to donate a new, short work for solo violin. Each then recommended a freelance composer to write their own short work on a paid commission.
“I THOUGHT I COULD SPEND THIS…TIME BEING SCARED, OR I COULD…TRY TO HELP AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN.”
—Jennifer Koh
Ms. Koh premiered these donated and commissioned works online from her apartment in spring 2020. Each premiere performance is archived on YouTube (/Jenniferkohviolin). Alone Together has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and in The New York Times, The Strad, and numerous other publications. Not content to let these one-off live performances serve as her final word, Koh wanted to record this timely series professionally for digital release as soon as possible to properly document the work of these composers and capture this unique moment in high quality audio. Cedille covers recording, production, and promotional costs for our albums. Unfortunately, because this program was so recently created, Alone Together was not included in our 2021 production budget.
Thanks to scores of Cedille supporters like you, however, donations to a special campaign covered our initial production costs — artist and venue fees, audio and graphic design personnel, etc. Thank you!
In February and March, Jennifer Koh and producer Judith Sherman held three full-day recording sessions. Post-production work — music editing, sound mixing, booklet design, and (later) extensive promotion is now underway.
Alone Together is now available as a digital album on Cedille Records.
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.