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Thank you for being part of our community
Like many nonprofit organizations, Cedille Records receives funding from a variety of sources, including grants from government agencies, foundations, and most importantly from you, our community of music lovers.
Of particular note right now, the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) investment in arts nonprofits like Cedille over the years has been an essential source of support for meaningful, artist-driven work. You may have seen recent news that numerous NEA grants to arts organizations nationwide have been cancelled. While we did receive a “Notice of Termination” regarding one of our two current NEA-funded projects, we’re pleased to share that Cedille had already received the grant funds, which provided essential early support for the recording of Black Being, a bold and thought-provoking new work on the subject of Black womanhood by the genre-defying flute duo Flutronix, performed in collaboration with the Chicago Sinfonietta. We are not required to return any funds. Thanks to this early investment, along with the continued generosity of our donors, Black Being remains on track and is scheduled for release in February 2026.
We’re excited to bring this bold new work to listeners everywhere. We recognize, however, that finding future opportunities for partnership with the NEA, which used to encourage projects that engaged underrepresented voices in classical music (as Cedille so often does), may prove more difficult.
Moments like this underscore just how important Cedille’s donor community is to our work. Your support ensures that, even when we are hit with unexpected changes, we can continue to deliver extraordinary music that uplifts voices, tells important stories, and reaches audiences around the world. Thank you for being a part of the vital community that helps us further Cedille’s mission.
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.