Terence Blanchard talks about his journey to making history at the Met with Lara Downes | Amplify

Lara Downes | April 14, 2023
In September of 2021 at the Metropolitan Opera's gala opening night, the curtain rose not on Puccini or Verdi, but on an opera by the American jazz trumpeter and film score composer Terence Blanchard. Fire Shut Up in My Bones wove together jazz, blues, and symphonic sounds to tell the true story of a Black man confronting the traumas of his childhood. It was the first time in the Met's 138-year history that America's leading opera house presented an opera by a Black composer.
I couldn't be there that night. I was in California, working on an album of music by Scott Joplin that begins with music from Treemonisha, which he finished in 1910, hoping to produce the first great Black American opera. The complete work was finally staged in 1972, some 55 years after Joplin's death. It wasn't until 1949, when William Grant Still's Troubled Island came to New York City Opera, that an opera by a Black composer was performed on a major American stage.
Being "the first" can be very lonely, unless you wrap yourself in the embrace of the ancestors who came before you. As he returns to the Met with his opera Champion, Terence acknowledges, with gratitude and humility, the lineage of Black composers whose music was often unrecognized in its time, but whose work ultimately made his success possible today. He's hopeful about what can come next, and recognizes his role in leading change that is such a long time coming.
The triumph of Fire Shut Up in My Bones prompted the Met not only to present Champion this season and reprise Fire next year, but also to shift the balance of its programming, with a commitment to commissioning works that tell diverse stories. As Terence's music invites new audiences into the velvet splendor of the opera house, it is redefining this art form, and welcoming the next generation of composers and singers into a future full of possibilities.
WATCH OTHER EPISODES OF AMPLIFY
• Amplify with Lara Downes
#terenceblanchard #amplify #nprmusic

[@emeraldkaysgarden]

Terrance Blanchard is a legit living legend. He composed so many great movie soundtracks, especially in black cinema. Love and gratitude to Mr Blanchard ❤

[@ChristianMcBrideTV]

Terence Blanchard has been a legend of his instrument and as a composer for a very long time. He also has been one of my most beloved big brothers and mentors since I first met him in 1987. He’s been blazing trails for a looooong time. I love him dearly, despite him being a Lakers fan. 😂😂 (Then again, the Pelicans didn’t exist in 1987, so maybe he’s rooting for his hometown team now.)

[@paulasuniverse5029]

That’s a high compliment coming from you; an accomplished and praised musician since your youth @ChristianMcBrideTV.

[@chanellsmith3204]

I was blessed to hear Terrance Blanchard at The Walt Disney Concert Hall in March 2023, never been there and wonderful concert experience plus Layla Hathaway was special guest and a new singer for me Tarriona Tank.. awesome concert 🎶🎵

[@paulasuniverse5029]

Terence B. is a blessing. I was fortunate to meet him a few years ago at The Kennedy Center after an NEA Jazz Masters event. What a great career he’s had. So many people probably do not realize how many of his film scores they’ve listened to over the decades.

[@grapevinenewz]

One of the Young Lions of Jazz moving forward and sharing his gifts… that’s FIRE…

[@GoldeneyeDoubleO7]

BlackKklansman was where I first heard Terrence Blanchard. Love his work

[@1JoyPeace]

Blanchard is a Master just as Blake & Sissle were, legacy & legends indeed. 💜🤗💜

[@thedeeprot]

🔥🔥🔥

[@joshuamelby]

Cool.

[@kathyramsey4453]

Bravo!!!!

[@oleksandrpotylko8054]

We want Olivia Dean)))))
Can you do that?))