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Watch Cedille’s 2021 Emerging Artist Competition
In celebration of over 30 years serving Chicago’s classical music community by recording and promoting its finest artists, Cedille Records looked to discover the next generation of great Chicago musicians with its first recording competition. Six semifinalists, selected from among three dozen original applicants, performed live for a panel of judges on November 20, 2021. The finals, held on November 21, 2021, featured performances by three finalists competing for the competition prize: to have their debut recording produced and released by Cedille Records.
Saxophonist Julian Velasco won the competition and will record and release his debut album with Cedille this year. Friends of Cedille, Aphorism Studios, livestreamed the two day event and we’re pleased to offer you the recordings of each day’s proceedings below.
Semifinals | November 20, 2021
Finals | November 21, 2021
The Finalists
Including their performed works for the final competition
Clare Longendyke, piano
Florence Price: Fantaisie negre No. 4 in B minor
Debussy: Bruyeres
Shawn Okpebholo: mi sueno: afro-flamenco
Debussy: La puerta del vino
Amy Williams: Olga
Debussy: Les collines d’Anacapri
Augusta Read Thomas: Love Twitters
Julian Velasco, saxophone
Andre Waignein: Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
Amanda Harberg: Court Dances
II. Air deCour
Steven Banks: Come As You Are
I. Lift My Eyes
II. Times of the Storm
III. Strength of My Life
Karisa Chiu, violin
Mark O’Connor: Menuhin Caprice
Jean Sibelius, Five Pieces for Violin and Piano: Op. 81, III. Valse
Henryk Wieniawski, Fantasia on Themes from “Faust”: Op. 20
THE JUDGES
James Ginsburg
Cedille Records founder and President
Rachel Barton Pine
Violinist, Cedille recording artist and Cedille Board member
Henry Fogel
Cedille Board member
Former President, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Josephine Lee
Artistic Director, Chicago Children’s Choir
George Preston
Vice President and General Manager, WFMT
Vladimir Kulenovic
Conductor and former Artistic Director, Lake Forest Symphony
David McGill
Former Principal Bassoon, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
THE SEMIFINALISTS
Recommended
Cedille’s newest digital single, Mischa Zupko: Harpsichord Concerto is available to stream everywhere. Scored for harpsichord and string quartet, the concerto exhibits highly idiomatic harpsichord writing, brought brilliantly into the present by Zupko’s ingenious reshaping of older musical styles into a thoroughly modern expression.
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.
In honor of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we repromote our playlist of Cedille recordings of music by (almost all) American composers based on American themes — people, places, events, etc. — and add a few recent tracks that fit the theme (and bring the total to 50).
Enjoy Cedille’s Weekly Featured Release.