THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Arts & Entertainment
October 14, 2021 - October 20, 2021 • 15
Jazz page 15 | Dance page 17 | Travel page 19 | Books page 21
Pg. 18 Your Stars
Terence Blanchard storms the Met sified with mainstage opera presentations. The five-time Grammy award winner didn’t want to be just a token working out of a vacuum. Earlier this
gram. Geib acknowledged the brutal police killing of George Floyd followed by international protest marches, and the impact of the Black Lives
catalyst that moved such institutions as the Met towards diversity. He also recognizes the fight for equality and inclusion started long before. The early
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, yes, the brush of the civil rights struggle has a very broad stroke and continues. The Met softly touched the surface of After 138 years of inclusion in 1955 when Will Liverman as Charles in Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” non-inclusion, the contralto Marian AnMetropolitan Opera fiderson became the nally raised the curtain first African Ameriof its 2021-2022 season can to perform at the with “Fire Shut Up in opera house. my Bones,” their first “I’m honored, but opera to be composed I’m not the first qualiby a Black composfied person to be here,” er, Terence Blanchard. said Blanchard. “Scott The opera is based on Joplin, Hale Smith a 2014 memoir by New and William Grant York Times opinion Still were very accomcolumnist Charles M. plished in in their creBlow, an intense emoative endeavors as tional rollercoaster ride composers and they of a young Black boy all deserved to have coming of age in rural their music played north Louisiana, coping here. They paved the with sexual molestaway for me.” tion, inner rage, confuThe difference in sion and self-discovery. writing a film score The opera boasts an (he has scored 40 inall-Black cast with a licluding 17 of Spike bretto by the writer, Lee’s films, earning filmmaker/director and Oscar nominations for actress Kasi Lemmons 2018’s “BlacKkKlansand conducted by Yanman” as well as 2020’s nick Nézet-Séguin. “Da 5 Bloods.” Quincy “I would give lanJones scored 24 films guage to all the others not counting scores (Ken Howard/Met Opera photos) who had suffered as for TV series) explains Walter Russell III as Char’es-Baby in a scene from Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” I had. I would show Blanchard, is that “I them what it looked like am helping someone to survive the pain, beelse tell their story 90% trayal and isolation and of the time. In composcome out on the other ing an opera, I am tellside,” explained Blow ing the story the way I in his NYT column refeel it happened from lating to his memoir. beginning to end.” Blanchard’s ”Fire He is still fine-tuning Shut Up in My his skills on composBones“ opened while ing for voices. “When the country is still batyou write for cello, you tling the ongoing write for cello,” he said. COVID-19 pandem“But no baritone is the ic that closed the Met same; no tenor is the in March 2020. Howsame. And all those ever, this historical culvoices, where do they tural moment for Black bloom in their regispeople and the Met ters? So being able to would not be stopped control that and maby any pandemic. After nipulate it, that’s been opening night, the a huge learning curve.” house remains at caBlanchard’s compospacity (3,800 seats) and ing style is based on Blacks are supporting jazz technique that inthis opera with vigorcludes charting the ous enthusiasm. rhythms of the text Blanchard gives credit to year the Met recruited com- Matter movement sparked execution of George Stinney and a series of chord progresPeter Geib, general manager of posers Valerie Coleman, Jessie the institution to respond. Jr., the killing of Emmett Till, sions, from which the melodies the Met, for accepting the chal- Montgomery and Joel Thomp- Blanchard agrees that many assassination of Martin Luther emerge. See JAZZ on page 16 lenge of becoming more diver- son to its commissioning pro- folks see Floyd’s killing as the King Jr., the 14th Amendment,
