Perhaps it was the eclipse, an event typically devoid of human influence, yet on the evening of April 8, 2024, it seemed to cast an otherworldly aura over Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmons’ production of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” The production premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2019 before moving to the Met to sold-out audiences {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl/Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera will revive Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” on April 8. The production, which is set to be performed seven times through May 2, will star Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green in his role debut as Charles, soprano Latonia Moore reprising the role of Charles’s mother, Billie and soprano Brittany Renee as Destiny {…}
The Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota has unveiled its 2024-25 International Artists Series and 2024-25 Music in the Park Series. The season includes one major vocal showcase – a concert performance of Terrence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” The showcase represents the Midwest premiere of this version of the opera. The performance, which takes place on Feb. {…}
(Photo credit: Bucklesweet) Two-time Oscar nominee and six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” Opera Suite in Concert will be presented by Strathmore and Washington Performing Arts. Blanchard and his E-Collective have teamed up with David Balakrishnan and the double GRAMMY®-winning Turtle Island Quartet, visual artist Andrew F. Scott, and guest vocalists soprano {…}
North Carolina’s Classical Station WCPE has announced that it will not be broadcasting the six modern operas that the Metropolitan Opera will showcase during the 2023-24 season. According to a letter signed by Deborah S. Proctor, the General Manager and Chief Engineer of WCPE, the radio station, which did not broadcast “Champion” due to vulgar language, opted to not broadcast {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) PBS’s Great Performances at the Met will continue on April 1, 2022 with a presentation of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” The opera, which was written by Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmons, stars Will Liverman, Latonia Moore, Angel Blue, and Walter Russell III. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the opera with Audra McDonald hosting the broadcast. “I cannot {…}
“You gotta disturb the earth to make it grow.” Uttered by Charles Blow’s uncle Paul in Act one of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” that line means so much in the context of this work, our world, and on Sept. 27, 2021, the opening of the Met Opera’s 2021-22 season. First up, this was a historic night. Terence Blanchard {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to open its 2021-22 season with the company premiere of “Fire Shut up in my Bones.” The production marks the first time the Met presents an opera written by a black composer; the work will be co-directed by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown. The opera was first performed {…}
The Metropolitan Opera announced its free simulcast of the opening night and season- launching performance of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” The simulcast will take place Monday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. ET in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park. There will be nearly 1,700 seats available at Marcus Garvey Park with approximately 2,000 seats also available in Times {…}
As the 2021-22 season approaches, we want to take stock of an opera that is set to make some major premieres at the start of the season. The work in question is “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” a work that premiered a few years back to tremendous reviews. For this latest installment of the Opera Quizzes, we take a {…}
(Credit: Ticanda Thompson) 12-year-old, Caleb Thompson will understudy the role of “Char’es Baby” in Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in my Bones” at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2021-22 season. Thompson is a voice student at Stax Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. Here, he has also been a part of an opera class that started after the cancelation of Opera Memphis’s {…}