Upcoming Releases

Cedille Records (operating organization, Cedille Chicago, NFP) is a Grammy-winning not-for-profit recording company that promotes Chicago’s world class performers and composers by permanently documenting their artistry on high-quality recordings. As a nonprofit funded largely by charitable donations and uninhibited by the need to reach commercially-driven sales targets, Cedille Records is able to provide a renowned platform for these musicians to pursue their artistic visions.

The following recordings are planned for release in 2026 as digital albums, except as specified.

FLUTRONIX, CHICAGO SINFONIETTA, MEI-ANN CHEN | BLACK BEING

Celebrated duo Flutronix (Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull) and Chicago’s leading chamber orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta (Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director), join forces on Black Being — an album featuring a work of the same name composed by Flutronix. Through themes of strength, sacrifice, beauty, fear, and survival, Black Being gives voice to the complexities of Black womanhood and provides a musical lens into black female cultural realities and conditions.

Supported by an Anonymous Donor, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the Robert and Isabelle Bass Foundation, Inc.

RELEASE | FEBURARY 13

ALISA JORDHEIM, KUANG-HAO HUANG | PATRICE MICHAELS: ON THE JOYS OF RECORDED MUSIC

Patrice Michaels supplements her cycle of songs about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (The Long View) with a newly released piece, based on a letter Justice David Souter wrote to Cedille Founder and President James Ginsburg.

DIGITAL SINGLE RELEASE | MARCH 6

HAYMARKET OPERA COMPANY | VINCI: ARTSERSE

The Haymarket Opera Company returns to Cedille with a recording of Leonardo Vinci’s final opera, Artaserse. Premiered in Rome in 1730, the opera was staged frequently during the 18^th century but had not been professionally produced in the United States until Haymarket’s June 2025 production. This recording, based on that show, is expected to serve as a reference for future performances of the work as well as a showcase for a stellar cast, innovatively using many different voice types (not just countertenors) for roles originally performed by castrati, including the legendary Carestini and Caffarelli (Farinelli’s main rivals).

Supported by Nancy Dehmlow, Patricia Kenney & Gregory O’Leary, Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation, Glory & Lynn Witherspoon, and Gail Belytschko, plus additional support from Patricia & Jerry Fuller, Mary Houston, and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Fund for Vocal Recordings at Cedille Records

3-CD SET RELEASE | MARCH 13

MARTA AZNAVOORIAN, CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC, SCOTT SPECK | STACY GARROP: “INVICTUS” PIANO CONCERTO & JOIE DE VIVRE

Composer Stacy Garrop’s new creation, Invictus, is a powerful piano concerto written for celebrated Chicago pianist Marta Aznavoorian. The concerto’s title, Invictus — Latin for “unconquered” — speaks to themes of resilience and triumph. Written specifically for Aznavoorian, the piece capitalizes on her virtuosic technique and deeply expressive playing, blending sweeping lyricism with rhythmic vitality. This close collaboration between composer and soloist, combined with the authoritative playing of the Chicago Philharmonic under its Artistic Director, Scott Speck, resulted in a concert premiere of both technical brilliance and emotional depth (recaptured in a produced recording session two days later). The recording balances Invictus with Garrop’s more lighthearted solo piece, Joie de vivre, also written for Aznavoorian.

Supported by Gail Belytschko and Joanne & Bob Bernstein

RELEASE | MAY 8

JORY VINIKOUR & FRIENDS | MISCHA ZUPKO: HARPSICHORD CONCERTO

Mischa Zupko’s Harpsichord Concerto, premiered in 2003, is a thoroughly modern, highly virtuosic, three-movement work scored for harpsichord and string quartet that draws and transforms influences from J.S. Bach, François Couperin, and traditional Baroque themes.

DIGITAL SINGLE RELEASE | JUNE 12

PACIFICA QUARTET, SIGOURNEY WEAVER |AMERICAN PORTRAITS

The culminating third album in the Pacifica Quartet’s American Collections set will feature new commissions for narrator Sigourney Weaver and string quartet by composers Jennifer Higdon and Gabriela Lena Frank covering uniquely American topics. The program also offers music that reflects on moments of grief and tragic events in American history. Samuel Barber’s String Quartet in B minor reminds us of the cathartic calm brought to a mourning nation by the performance of its famous Adagio at JFK’s funeral. George Crumb’s revolutionary Black Angels “Thirteen Images from the Dark Land” was inspired by the Vietnam War.

Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts

RELEASE | JULY 3

OLIVER TALUKDER, MORIAH TRENK, JUDY ZHUO |BRIEFLY GORGEOUS

Oboist Oliver Talukder makes his solo recording debut — his prize for winning Cedille’s second Emerging Artist Competition, sponsored by the Zell Family Foundation. The album features works with which Oliver wowed the audience at the Competition and also the 2025 Soirée Cedille gala, including his wild arrangement of Arturo Márquez’s beloved Danzón No. 2, on which Oliver also plays English horn, flute, and piccolo!

Supported by Nancy Dehmlow, Lori Julian for the Julian Family Foundation, Patricia Kenney & Gregory O’Leary, Olga & Darin Walsh, Helen Zell, and attendees of Soirée Cedille 2025

RELEASE | SEPTEMBER 4

TIMOTHY McALLISTER, MISCHA ZUPKO, ~NOIS, CIVITAS ENSEMBLE | FROM THE SKYLINE

Composer Mischa Zupko and saxophonist Tim McAllister share a long history, working together for over two decades. Featuring a new commission of the same name, From the Skyline will document several of Zupko’s works for saxophone with him as pianist, ensuring that the recording will be true to his intended sound. The album will showcase the breadth of Zupko’s compositions for this distinctive instrument as the ~Nois saxophone quartet and Civitas Ensemble join with McAllister on this unique recording.

Supported by Judy & Scott McCue and Bruce Oltman

RELEASE | OCTOBER 9

JENNIFER KOH, OBERLIN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE | THE AMERICAN CONCERTO

The American Concerto is a multi-season commissioning project that explores the form of the violin concerto and its potential to activate social change through music. Koh Invited a diverse group of American composers — Nina Young, Missy Mazzoli, Tyshawn Sorey, Courtney Bryan, Lisa Bielawa, Christopher Cerrone, and Vijay Iyer — to engage with socio-cultural topics, relevant and personally meaningful to them. The project invites composers to view their subjects through the lens of violin and orchestra, asking them to re-examine the conventional musical form of the concerto and establish a new form for the 21^st century that engages the fluctuating dynamic between group and individual as a ripe metaphor for contemporary times. The extended-length recording will also feature repertory works by Samuel Barber (Violin Concerto) and Leonard Bernstein (Serenade).

RELEASE | NOVEMBER 6