Terence Blanchard, Performing Jazz-Curated Suite of Music Based on His Groundbreaking Opera "Fire Shut Up in My Bones"
March 04, 2024ENSEMBLE ARTS PHILLY PRESENTS SIX-TIME GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING JAZZ ICON, TERENCE BLANCHARD, PERFORMING A JAZZ-CURATED SUITE OF MUSIC BASED ON HIS GROUNDBREAKING OPERA, FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES
PERFORMANCE FEATURES THE E-COLLECTIVE AND TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET
APRIL 7, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 4, 2024) – Ensemble Arts Philly, the new presenting brand of the Kimmel Cultural Campus and The Philadelphia Orchestra, is thrilled to welcome award-winning trumpeter, composer, and jazz icon, Terence Blanchard, performing a jazz suite based on his historic opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones in Verizon Hall on April 7, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Blanchard will be joined by his Grammy nominated ensemble The E-Collective, the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet, and operatic vocalists Justin Austin and Adrienne Danrich. Fire Shut Up in My Bones is based on The New York Times journalist Charles M. Blow’s powerful memoir of the same name, chronicling his childhood in rural Louisiana, and his journey to break free from the repressions of the traditions of family, church, and college.
Phenomenal and forward-thinking, Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies, past and present. In what is a captivating display of Blanchard's talent, Fire Shut Up in My Bones not only holds the distinction of being the first opera by a Black composer presented in the 138-year history of the Metropolitan Opera, but also provides a deeply insightful narrative embedded with social issues and elements of jazz. Expressly curated for this event, this performance will blend scenes from the opera as interactive projections displayed behind the musicians.
“Every year, innovative jazz artists enliven our stages and elevate our city’s arts and culture landscape,” said President and CEO Matías Tarnopolsky. “Terence Blanchard, with his immense talent and a commitment to social issues, is a remarkable musician and a truly revolutionary artist. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Kimmel Center for a special performance of a new suite of music from his groundbreaking and deeply moving opera, Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which made history at the Metropolitan Opera in 2021 when it became the first opera written by a Black composer to be staged there.”
Crowning Blanchard’s extraordinarily moving music is NAACP Image Award-winning actress, director, and screenwriter Kasi Lemmons’ profoundly affecting libretto; her achievement also marked a first for the Metropolitan Opera—the first time the work of a Black librettist had ever been performed there. Premiering at the Met in 2021, the opera was conducted by The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
From Blanchard’s expansive work composing the scores for Spike Lee films ranging from the documentary When the Levees Broke, about Blanchard’s hometown of New Orleans during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, to the epic Malcom X and latest Da 5 Bloods, Blanchard has interwoven melodies that create strong backdrops to human stories. Blanchard received Oscar® nominations for his original scores for Spike Lee’s films BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020). He was also BAFTA nominated for his original works for BlacKkKlansman and won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition for the film’s “Blut Und Boden (Blood and Soil).”
Blanchard’s first opera, Champion, also premiered to critical acclaim in 2013 at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and featured acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves with libretto from Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael Cristofer. With his current quintet The E-Collective featured on the score of BlacKkKlansman with a 96-piece orchestra, Blanchard delivered a “soaring, seething, luxuriant score,” said The New York Times. Blanchard’s E-Collective has now released three acclaimed records on Blue Note: Grammy nominated Breathless (2015), LIVE (2018), and ABSENCE (2021), which also features Turtle Island Quartet.
TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999 or online at www.ensembleartsphilly.org. In-person ticket sales can be conducted daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at the Academy of Music Box Office, located at 240 S. Broad Street. Visit www.ensembleartsphilly.org for more information.
Terence Blanchard: Fire Shut Up in My Bones with the E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet
Verizon Hall
Sunday, April 7, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.
The 2023–24 Ensemble Arts Jazz Season continues with Emmet Cohen Trio (March 14, 2024, Perelman Theater) and Herb Alpert & Lani Hall (May 18, 2024, Perelman Theater).
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ABOUT ENSEMBLE ARTS PHILLY
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For a PDF version of this press release, click here.
APRIL 7, 2024