• About Us
  • Paper Locations
  • Contact
Hispanic News || Shirley Ann Flower Shop || RS Deer Ranch
May 28, 2023
MEDIA KIT
African American News and Issues
63 °f
Houston
  • National
    • Politics
  • Local
    • Community
    • Announcements
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Health
  • Afram TV
  • Events
  • E-Editions
    • Archives
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
African American News and Issues
  • National
    • Politics
  • Local
    • Community
    • Announcements
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Health
  • Afram TV
  • Events
  • E-Editions
    • Archives
  • Resources
No Result
View All Result
African American News and Issues
No Result
View All Result
  • AframNews Media Kit
  • About
  • Paper Locations
Home #NNPA BlackPress

Terence Blanchard at The Met!

aframnews by aframnews
September 30, 2021
in #NNPA BlackPress, Black History, Entertainment, National, News
0
Terence Blanchard at The Met!
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedIn

Louisiana native Terence O. Blanchard is the first Black artist to debut an original Opera at the famous Metropolitan Opera House. “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is based on the memoir of Charles M. Blow, another Black Louisianan.

You might also like

Flip the Coin

Rock Legend Tina Turner Dies at 83

It’s Not About Age

Blow is a Best-Selling Author, New York Times columnist, CNN Contributor, and the host of Prime with Charles M. Blow on the Black News Network.

“Fire Shut Up in My Bones” tells about a young man’s journey to overcome a lifetime of trauma and hardship. The opera follows Charles through his adolescence and ultimately leads to a fateful moment: when he must decide whether to break free from his trauma and begin to rebuild his life.

“Terence Blanchard’s ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’ is the first work by a Black composer to be presented at the Met. Based on Charles M. Blow’s moving memoir of the same name and featuring a libretto by Kasi Lemmons, the new staging is co-directed by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown. Brown, who is also the production’s choreographer, becomes the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a stellar cast, led by Will Liverman as Charles, Angel Blue as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta, and Latonia Moore as Billie,” according to the Met’s press release.

“I had no idea I was the first Black to have an opera at the Met,” Blanchard said in the “Creative Forces Behind Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” “It’s an overwhelming, huge honor, but I know I’m not the first qualified to do it,” Blanchard, a New Orleans native, adds.

Blanchard, 59, began playing piano by the age of 5, switched to trumpet three years later, and played alongside childhood friend Wynton Marsalis in summer band camps.

Blow marvels at the Met’s embrace of his memoir. “I’m still that little boy from a nowhere place in the world. For the Met to say it’s grand enough is truly an honor.

Charles McRay Blow, 51,  is a native of Gibsland, Louisiana. Gibsland is a town of 563 residents in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. The city is best known for its connecting railroads, the birthplace of Coleman College, and the nearby capture in 1934 of the bandits Bonnie and Clyde.

Senior VP at Harper-Collins, Jonathan Burnham, describes Blow’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” as a psychological thriller. During a public discussion about the memoir, Burnham questioned Blow about his motivation for writing the book.

“The title comes from the Bible,” Blow explains.  Jeremiah 20:9 says, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not hold back.”

At age 7, Blow was sexually assaulted by a cousin, Chester. Blow didn’t tell anyone about it. He struggled with the trauma Chester caused. As a young man, Blow had to accept that what happened wasn’t his fault. He also had to deal with confusion over his sexual identity.

The memoir opens with 20-year-old Charles sitting in a car, holding a gun, and deciding whether to kill his abuser. “To me Chester was the devil,” he adds.

He credits the self-sufficiency he learned watching successful Black professionals in a segregated community thrive while owning property, growing their own food, and leading institutions. Blow, like his mother, is a “super survivor.”

Blow came out as bisexual in 2014 upon the publication of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” memoir. He is the divorced father of three adult children.

Blow survived the trauma, graduated magnum cum laude from Grambling University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, and became an award-winning graphic designer, journalist, author, father and husband.

“With an expansive body of work, including the scores for numerous Spike Lee films and an extensive discography, 2018 USA Fellow and six-time Grammy-winning trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies. He studied jazz at Rutgers University and was invited to play with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra in 1982. Following a string of collaborative recordings, he released his first self-titled solo album on Columbia Records in 1991. In 2015, he released his first album with his jazz quintet E-Collective, and most recently, the ensemble collaborated with the Turtle Island Quartet for a new album, Absence, that released in 2021 on the Blue Note label. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his original scores for the films ‘BlacKkKlansman’ in 2019 and ‘Da 5 Bloods’ in 2021. In 2013, his first Opera, ‘Champion,’ had its world premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and six years later, that same company premiered his ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones,’” according to the Met.

Opening Night of the 2021–22 season, will be a historic occasion – the Met’s first performance of an opera by a Black composer. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Grammy Award-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s moving memoir, which The New York Times praised after its 2019 world premiere at Opera. Theatre of Saint Louis as “bold and affecting” and “subtly powerful.”

Featuring a libretto by Filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is about a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship.

James Robinson and Camille A. Brown – two of the creators of the Met’s sensational recent production of Porgy and Bess – co-direct this new staging; Brown, who is also the production’s choreographer, becomes the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production.

“Baritone Will Liverman, one of opera’s most exciting young artists, stars as Charles, alongside sopranos Angel Blue as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta and Latonia Moore as Billie,” the Met reported.

“I want to make sure the people whose shoulders I’m standing on will be proud. My hope and dream is to have some little kids come up knowing they can overcome and succeed in life.”

“Terence is a genius. When this is over, I will have a soundtrack to my life written by Terence Blanchard,” Blow said gleefully.

“Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” a two-hour, forty-minute Opera, opens on Wednesday, September 27, 2021, and runs through October 23, 2021. metopera.org.

Tags: ‘BlacKkKlansman’‘Champion’‘Da 5 Bloods’“Creative Forces Behind Fire Shut Up in My Bones”“Fire Shut Up in My Bones”2018 USA FellowAbsenceAcademy AwardsadolescenceAmerican tragediesAngel BlueAuthoraward-winning graphic designerbachelor’s degree in mass communicationsbest-selling authorBienville Parish LouisianabisexualBlack composerBlack LouisiananBlack News NetworkBlue Note labelBonnie and ClydeC.C. Campbell-RockCamille A. BrownCharles M. BlowCharles McRay BlowchoreographerCNN ContributorColeman CollegeColumbia RecordsE-Collectiveestiny/Loneliness/Gretaextensive discographyfatherfirst Black artistfirst Black directorGibsland LouisianaGrambling Universitygrowing their own foodhardshipHarper-CollinshusbandJames RobinsonJeremiah 20:9Jonathan BurnhamjournalistKasi LemmonsLatonia Mooreleading institutionslibrettolifetime of traumaLionel Hampton Orchestralouisianamainstage Met productionmemoirMetropolitan Opera HouseMusic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguinnew stagingNew York Times columnistOpera Theatre of Saint Louisoriginal Operaowning propertyPrime with Charles M. Blowpsychological thrillerRutgers Universitysegregated communityself-sufficiencysexual identitysix-time Grammy-winning trumpeter/composerSpike Lee filmsstellar castsuccessful Black professionalsTerence O. BlanchardThe Louisiana Weeklythe MetTurtle Island QuartetWill LivermanWynton Marsalisyoung man’s journey
Share30Tweet19
aframnews

aframnews

Recommended For You

Flip the Coin

by Bobby E Mills, PhD
May 26, 2023
0
Flip the Coin

America, we have experienced in real time a two tailed coin: Herschel Walker and Senator Tim Scott. What an abomination, and a damn shame for these two Black...

Read more

Rock Legend Tina Turner Dies at 83

by NNPA
May 24, 2023
0
Rock Legend Tina Turner Dies at 83

Tina Turner, the “Queen of Rock ‘n Roll’ whose legend grew after she overcame a bitter divorce to musician Ike Turner that was filled with violence, has died...

Read more

It’s Not About Age

by Bobby E Mills, PhD
May 21, 2023
0
It’s Not About Age

Age is only a number. Therefore, age does not determine or define one’s abilities or capabilities in achieving or completing a certain goal. Thus, it is not about...

Read more

What Color is God

by Bobby E Mills, PhD
May 13, 2023
0
What Color is God

Mankind’s desire is to play God. To not honor and serve God is a monumental problem. Therefore, individuals have always sought to define God in anthropological terms, rather...

Read more

Identity Theft in Black Culture

by Chelsea Davis-Bibb, Ed.D.
May 6, 2023
0
Identity Theft in Black Culture

Identity. Do you know what makes you who you are? Do you know where you come from or your family history? Due to slavery, many Black people don’t...

Read more
Next Post
COMMENTARY: Black Lives Matter and The Color of Your Skin

COMMENTARY: Black Lives Matter and The Color of Your Skin

Latest Articles

RICH BLACK, POOR BLACK

RICH BLACK, POOR BLACK

May 26, 2023
A Military Experience

A Military Experience

May 26, 2023
Edison Arts Foundation’4th Annual Tutus and Tuxes

Edison Arts Foundation’4th Annual Tutus and Tuxes

May 26, 2023

NEED PAST ISSUES?

Search our archive of past issues Receive our Latest Updates
* indicates required
  • Local
  • National
  • Community
  • Education
  • Politics
  • COVID-19
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports

ARTICLES

  • Local
  • National
  • Community
  • Education
  • Politics
  • COVID-19
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports

CONNECT WITH US

  • Home
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

  • Hispanic News
  • Shirley Ann’s Flower Shop
African American News and Issues

African American News & Issues
6130 Wheatley St
Houston, TX 77091
(713) 692-1892

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2023. African American News & Issues. All rights reserved. Private Policy | Terms of Use |

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Local
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Announcements
  • Events
  • Afram TV
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023. African American News & Issues. All rights reserved. Private Policy | Terms of Use |

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?