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YouTube Exclusive Single – Jennifer Koh performs “Assembly” from Vijay Iyer’s Trouble for Violin and Chamber Orchestra
Cedille is excited to release an exclusive YouTube single of the sixth movement, “Assembly” from Vijay Iyer’s Trouble in a masterful performance by violinist Jennifer Koh and the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Timothy Weiss. Iyer’s work is featured in The Cool Blue Wind, a photographic collage and permanent installation at the Obama Presidential Center.
Vijay Iyer’s six movement concerto, Trouble — co-commissioned by the Ojai Music Festival, Cal Performances in Berkeley, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra (2017) — developed out of his conversations with Koh about the political climate following the 2016 election, the immigrant experience, and the high-profile injustices that have plagued U.S. history. A major impetus for the project was the story of Vincent Chin, the Chinese American man who was beaten to death in a racially motivated assault by two white men in Detroit in 1982. “Assembly” is an all-encompassing, folk-like, episodic finale with growing contrapuntal lines that gradually dissipate before building up once more: a metaphor for the political injustices shaping Trouble’s musical storytelling.
This summer, Cedille Records will release the first in a series of recordings based on Koh’s groundbreaking commissioning project, The American Concerto. Volume One features Iyer’s Trouble and the world premiere recording of Courtney Bryan‘s Syzygy, also performed with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Timothy Weiss.
The American Concerto, Volume One will be available for download and streaming starting August 14, 2026.
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.