Q & A: Composer Jeanine Tesori, Lincoln Center’s Visionary Artist 2025, on Her New Opera ‘Blue’ & Her Experiences as a Composer Writing Across Genres

(Photo: Nina Wurtzel-Horiz) Jeanine Tesori is one of today’s pioneering composers. Her work transcends boundaries and spans genres, including film and opera. Her new opera, “Blue,” which received the MCANA Award for Best New Opera, and “Grounded,” the first female commissioned opera by The Metropolitan Opera, are making history. Her work focuses on political and societal complexities, woven into the {…}

Mar 12, 2024

Royal Opera House Leads Opera Olivier Award Nominations

The Olivier Awards have announced their 2024 nominations. Here are the opera category nominees: TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production “Blue” by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum “Innocence” by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House “Picture A Day Like This” by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre “The Rhinegold” {…}

Oct 19, 2023

New Orleans Opera to Showcase Major Premiere of ‘Blue’

(photo by Karli Cadel) New Orleans Opera Association is set to present the Southern premiere of “Blue” on Nov. 10 and 12, 2023. The opera by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson was voted “Best New Opera” in 2020 by the Music Critics Association of North America. This production will star Krysty Swann, Cory McGee, Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, Gordon Hawkins, Charbrelle {…}

May 25, 2023

New Orleans Opera Association Receives Major Grant from NEA for ‘Blue’

The New Orleans Opera Association (NOOA) has received a $25,000 award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the southern premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s “Blue.” The production by the New Orleans Opera Association is one of 1,130 projects selected nationwide for funding in the second round of Grants for Arts Projects in the fiscal {…}

Jan 30, 2023

Washington National Opera to Premiere ‘Blue’

(Credit: Karli Cadel) The Washington National Opera is set to present the D.C. premiere of “Blue.” The production, which is set to be performed from March 11 to 25, 2023 at the Eisenhower Theater, is inspired by contemporary events and Black literature, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me” and James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time.” Written by Jeanine {…}

Oct 4, 2022

Dutch National Opera to Present European Premiere of ‘Blue’

The Dutch National Opera is set to present the European premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s “Blue.” The opera is a topical set in Harlem and about a black couple who anticipates the birth of its first-born son, with both hope and anxiety. The mother worries about her son’s future as she watches him become a young man and enter the world {…}

Aug 24, 2022

Artist of the Week: Aundi Marie Moore

This week the Toledo Opera is set to present the company premiere of Tazewell Thompson and Jeanine Tesori’st timely work “Blue.” The work will feature a diverse cast that will include Aundi Marie Moore. Moore will make her debut with the company portraying the role of the Mother. “The music and words are beautiful, heart breaking and true messages for {…}

Aug 16, 2022

Toledo Opera Partners With The African American Police League, Toledo Police Museum, & WGTE Public Media

Toledo Opera along with the African American Police League, Toledo Police Museum, WGTE Public Media, and the Lucas County Public Library join forces to promote the upcoming run of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s new opera, “Blue.” “Blue” follows the realities of a Black family in Harlem who navigate the father being a police officer as their son grows up {…}

May 20, 2022

Toledo Opera & Maumee Valley Country Day School Present ‘Activating the Arts for Racial Justice’ with ‘Blue: Stories from Toledo’

On May 23 at 7 p.m., Toledo Opera and Maumee Valley Country Day School will host” Activating the Arts for Racial Justice: A Documentary Film Screening and Panel Discussion featuring “Blue: Stories From Toledo.” This will be the third screening presented by Toledo Opera of the documentary. Eboné Waweru, Toledo Opera soprano and parent at the co-hosting school, will deliver {…}

Mar 19, 2022

Toledo Opera to Host Documentary Film Screening & Panel Discussion on ‘Blue’

Toledo Opera is set to host “Building Trust: A Documentary Film Screening & Panel Discussion” in preparation for its upcoming production of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s “Blue.” The film screening and panel will take place on March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center at Lourdes University. The panel will consist of members of the Toledo {…}

Mar 18, 2022

Pittsburgh Opera to Present ‘Blue’

Pittsburgh Opera is set to present Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s “Blue.” The opera, which is reflective of an all-too-familiar American headline, “Blue” centers on the hopes and fears of a young Black couple as they raise their son. The cast will include Kenneth Kellogg, Briana Elyse Hunter, Aaron Crouch, Andrew Turner, Gordon Hawkins, Yazid Gray, and Adrianna Cleveland. Glenn {…}

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