Cedille Records Emerging Artist Competition Names 2025 Winner

Oboist Oliver Talukder will receive a recording contract for a debut solo album valued at $70,000

The second edition of the Cedille Records Emerging Artist Competition has recently come to a close. Open to musicians under the age of 35 who reside in, or are originally from, the Chicago metro area and who have not yet appeared as the featured performer on a commercially released CD, the competition offers a Cedille recording contract for a debut solo album, valued at $70,000.

Oboist Oliver Talukder has been named the winner of the 2025 edition. He was selected from a pool of 23 first-round applications, which were then pared down through further rounds — with the public final round being held at the Spertus Institute’s Feinberg Theater.

Pianists Tamila Salimdjanova and Seho Young were the other young musicians who appeared in the final round.

Oliver Talukder is of Mexican and Bengali heritage, and his most formative musical experiences all took place in Chicago, in institutions such as the People’s Music School, Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

He is a recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers were Katherine Needleman and Philippe Tondre, and was named the conservatory's 2024 Presser Scholar.

The winner of First Prize in the 2022 Midwest Double Reed Society Competition and Outstanding Instrumentalist in the 2024 Sphinx Orchestral Partners Audition Competition, Talukder currently serves as Second Oboist in the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.

"We are so incredibly proud of the high level of talent, skill, and dedication demonstrated by all of our semi-finalists and finalists this past weekend," said James Ginsburg, founder of Cedille Records. "While each of the musicians performed brilliantly, Oliver’s musicality and ability to communicate to and connect with the audience stood out."

"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."