Collaborations

Blanchard is unique in the jazz world as an artist whose creative endeavors go far beyond the genre into film scoring, crafting television series soundscapes and conceiving grand operas that have been recognized at the highest levels of art appreciation. In addition, Blanchard has been at the forefront of giving voice in his works to socio-cultural issues and racial injustices of our time.

Opera

Being the first black composer to present an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, Blanchard has proven nothing short of success with both of his opera productions, "Champion" and "Fire Shut Up In My Bones", receiving such high acclaim.

"Champion"

Six-time Grammy Award–winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his first opera to the Met after his Fire Shut Up in My Bones triumphantly premiered with the company to universal acclaim in 2021–22. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion, and bass-baritone Eric Owens portrays Griffith’s older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore is Emelda Griffith, the boxer’s estranged mother, and mezzo- soprano Stephanie Blythe is the bar owner Kathy Hagan. Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for Blanchard’s second Met premiere, also reuniting the director-and-choreographer team of James Robinson and Camille A. Brown. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.

Read more here

An opera by Terence Blanchard Libretto by Michael Cristofer

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Originally commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis.

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago

Production a gift of Lynne and Richard Pasculano

Additional support provided by The Ford Foundation, and the Francis Goelet Trusts

"FIRE shut up in my bones"

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, the opera tells a poignant and profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship.

Film Scores

composed by terence blanchard

The Comedian (2016)

Director: Taylor Hackford

Original Music By: Terence Blanchard

Collaborations

Opera

Being the first black composer to present an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, Blanchard has proven nothing short of success with both of his opera productions, "Champion" and "Fire Shut Up In My Bones", receiving such high acclaim.

"Champion"

"FIRE shut up in my bones"

Film Scores

composed by terence blanchard

Black or White (2014)

Red Tails (2012)

Bunraku (2010)

Cadillac Records (2008)

Talk To Me (2007)

Miracle at St. Anna’s (2008)

When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)

Waist Deep (2006)

Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)

Inside Man ( 2006)

Dark Blue (2003)

She Hate Me (2004)

People I Know (2002)

Jim Brown-All American (2002)

Barber Shop (2002)

25th Hour (2002)

Bojangles

The Salton Sea (2002)

Glitter (2001)

A Girl Thing (2001)

The Caveman’s Valentine (2001)

Original Sin (2001)

Next Friday (2000)

Bamboozled (2000)

Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her (1999)

Love & Basketball (2000)

Summer of Sam (1999)

Random Hearts (1999)

Gia (1998)

The Tempest (1998)

‘Til There Was You (1997)

4 Little Girls (1997)

Soul of The Game (1996)

Eve’s Bayou (1997)

Get On The Bus (1996)

Primal Fear (1996)

The Promised Land (1995) TV Mini-Series

Clockers (1995)

Crooklyn ( 1994)

Backbeat (1994)

Trial By Jury (1994)

The Inkwell (1994)

Malcolm X (1992)

Sugar Hill (1993)

Mo’ Better Blues (1990)

Jungle Fever (1991)