BRIEFLY GORGEOUS, Oboist Oliver Talukder's Debut Album, to Arrive via Cedille Records
Curtis and Juilliard-trained musician performs alongside pianist Moriah Trenk on works by Florence Price and others.
Cedille Records is set to release Briefly Gorgeous, the debut solo recording from Chicago-born oboist Oliver Talukder, winner of the label's 2025 Emerging Artist Competition. Joined by pianist Moriah Trenk, Talukder, a recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music now pursuing a Master's degree at Juilliard, built the digital album around themes of family, identity, and home, drawing on his Mexican and Bengali heritage alongside his Chicago upbringing. The program features works by Jeffrey Agrell, Marina Dranishnikova, Alyssa Morris, Florence Price, Reena Esmail, and Arturo Márquez, with Talukder performing on oboe, English horn, flute, and piccolo.
Talukder explains the personal significance of the book: 'Vuong's novel is an emotionally raw, coming-of-age story that grapples with themes of love, family, identity, and the experience of living in diaspora. I saw myself in its pages. It was the first work of art that reflected so many of my own experiences with such honesty and beauty. The novel gave me language for feelings I had carried for years but never fully understood.'
Talukder's upbringing similarly shaped the album's musical perspective. 'My home was filled with the aroma of my father's biryani, the sounds of boleros, salsa, and Bollywood film soundtracks, and conversations among my family in English, Spanish, and Bengali. My neighborhood reflected that same richness,' Talukder recounts. 'Long before I understood it, my ears were being trained by different languages, rhythms, and musical traditions.'
The album opens with Jeffrey Agrell's Blues for D.D., a virtuosic work that pushes the oboe to its technical and stylistic limits through blues, swing, bebop, and Latin rhythms before crashing into a nearly three-octave chromatic swoop that culminates in a sassy 'tongue in cheek' finale.
The album takes its title from Ocean Vuong's novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, which Talukder has described as reflecting his own experiences with diaspora, family, and identity. Briefly Gorgeous is scheduled for release across digital and streaming platforms.
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