Oboist Oliver Talukder wins Cedille Records’ 
​second Emerging Artist Competition 
Talukder will make his featured debut recording with Cedille Records as his main prize

Picture
Oboist Oliver Talukder Photo Credit: Cedille Records’
Picture
President and Founder James Ginsburg,, Photo Credit: Cedille Records’

    Cedille Records, the pioneering, nonprofit Chicago-based classical music label led by President & Founder][James Ginsburg, proudly names Oliver
Talukder the winner of the second Cedille Records’Emerging Artist Competition sponsored by the Zell Family Foundation. Designed to augment Cedille’s nonprofit mission of supporting Chicago’s finest classical music artists, the Emerging Artist Competition was open to musicians under the age of 35 who reside in, or are originally from, the Chicago metro area and who had not yet appeared as the featured performer on a commercially released CD. In this year’s competition, 23 first-round applications were pared down to seven semi finalists by a panel of Cedille board
members. After a live semifinal round on May 17, three musicians were chosen to compete in the public final round at the Spertus Institutes
Feinberg Theater on Sun., May 18 where Talukder was named the winner and received the top prize, a Cedille recording contract for their debut solo album — a prize valued at $70,000.
   Oliver Talukder, a currently Philadelphia-based oboist of Mexican and Bengali heritage, was born and raised in the vibrant suburbs of Chicago, IL. His early musical experiences were shaped by the city’s classical music organizations including the People’s Music School, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Talukder currently serves as the Second Oboist in the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra. A recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Talukder completed his final year of studies, under the guidance of Katherine Needleman and Philippe Tondre. During his time at Curtis, he served as Student Council President and was named the 2024 Presser Scholar, an award recognizing his leader-ship and artistry. Talukder’s talent has been underscored by accolades such as the First Prize in the 2022 Midwest Double Reed Society Competition and Outstanding Instrument-alist in the 2024 Sphinx Orchestral Partners Audition Competition. Talukder takes pride in championing the music of living composers and remains steadfast in his mission to enrich lives, bridge cultures, and inspire generations to come through the language of music.
 
  In addition to Talukder, the finalists in this year’s competition were pianists Tamila Salimdjanova and Seho Young along with semi-finalists violinists Esme Arias-Kim and Rabia Brooke and pianists 
Boris Krivoshein, and Wenting Shi. This diverse group of early-career musicians with deep ties to Chicago represents an array of backgrounds and perspectives on classical music with artists hailing originally from China, Uzbekistan, Russia, Boston and, of course, Chicagoland. The semi-final and final rounds were judged by top classical music professionals in Chicago including James Ginsburg; Henry Fogel, former President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association; 
Jorge Federico Osorio, pianist; Sean Connors, Third Coast Percussion;
Lidiya Yankovskaya, former Chicago Opera Theater Music Director; 
Stacy Garrop, Chicago-based composer; and
Oliver Camacho, WFMT-FM Music Director.
 ​
“We are so incredibly proud of the high level of talent, skill, and dedica-
tion demonstrated by all of our semi-finalists and finalists this past week-
​end. While each of the musicians performed brilliantly, Oliver’s musicality and ability to communicate to and connect with the audience stood out.” says Ginsburg. “We are looking forward to watching all these artists’ careers continue to blossom as they add to the rich classical music scene in Chicago, and we are looking forward to adding Oliver to the roster of Cedille artists.”​​
About Cedille Records
James Ginsburg founded Cedille Records in 1989 with the vision of making classical recordings featuring outstanding Chicago-area musicians. To this day, Cedille continues to fulfill its mission of recording original programs developed by artists such as Jennifer Koh, Rachel Barton Pine, Eighth Blackbird, the Pacifica Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, Will Liverman, and Anthony McGill. Their recordings are regularly honored with the highest accolades, including Grammy Awards — to date Cedille has received 35 Grammy nominations and eight Awards. For more information, please visit cedillerecords.org.