Jazz composer Terence Blanchard talks elevating Black culture via opera and Super Bowl 2025
Terence Blanchard has been a purveyor of Black Culture via his opera "Fire Shut in My Bones" and major productions he's been called to be apart of, including Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), and Super Bowl LIX. Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
In films, such as Spike Lee’s Malcolm X or Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, music is used as an underlying tool to draw emotions from viewers. The man working behind the scenes on those productions is jazz composer Terence Blanchard. A Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated musician, Blanchard has brought Black American culture into another form of media: opera. He and his band E-Collective partnered with the Turtle Island String Quartet during their stop at the University of Illinois Krannert Center for Performing Arts on February 27, 2025.
Illinois Public Media's David Pierce discussed with Terence Blanchard to discuss "Fire Shut Up in My Bones," the opera composed by Blanchard and his long music legacy.
Guest:
Terence Blanchard
American Jazz trumpeter and composer