Award-winning
composer/trumpeter Terence Blanchard talked about his unlikely venture
into jazz opera and his work on various Spike Lee films, including
"BlacKkKlansman."
John Malveaux of
writes:
Composer, flutist, educator Dawn Norfleet forwarded the following St. Louis on the Air discussion with composer, trumpeter Terence Blanchard to MusicUNTOLD. See https://www.kbia.org/post/composer-trumpeter-terence-blanchard-talks-upcoming-opera-premiere-working-spike-lee?fbclid=IwAR0tS21TazMMOT15aVa3Z4si6K-fB8LWi22F5qChwfxZLqGlxU9tj6ZRnpY#stream/0
St. Louis Public Radio
By Lara Hamdan
•
Mar 18, 2019
Composer, Trumpeter Terence Blanchard Talks Upcoming Opera Premiere, Working With Spike Lee
The name Terence Blanchard is well known in the worlds of jazz and
opera. The Academy Award nominee and Grammy Award-winning
composer/trumpeter scored a big hit a few years ago with “Champion”, a
joint co-commission by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) and Jazz St.
Louis about boxer Emile Griffith.
On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air,
host Don Marsh talked with Blanchard about his latest OSTL commissioned
production, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” as well as his work on the
recent Spike Lee film, "BlacKkKlansman."
The new opera will
premiere June 15. It is based on the memoir of celebrated writer and New
York Times columnist Charles Blow. Blanchard said Blow’s compelling
story includes the writer’s traumatic upbringing from being molested by
family members.
“The book is a memoir about his struggles growing
up, being a little different from everybody else in the family and
people not really understanding where he's coming from and he didn't
necessarily fit in … and his trials and tribulations of dealing with
that,” he explained.
“Just in talking to him, how he still deals
with those issues today as a grown person, [is] an amazing thing to see
because he's become so successful and so brilliant at what it is that he
does – you wouldn't think that he would still have these issues, but
they still linger.”
Despite sometimes feeling like “a fish out of
water” in the opera business, Blanchard said he’s had a great
experience working with OSTL. Blanchard explained he was approached
about writing a jazz opera for the main stage six years ago.
“I
literally thought they were crazy. I'm like, ‘You want me to write an
opera? Okay, where's this coming from?’ But it's been one of the
greatest experiences of my life,” he said. “[Opera Theatre of St. Louis]
has broken down the stigma of what opera is for me – it's storytelling,
that’s really what it is.”
Working on ‘BlacKkKlansman’ and with Spike Lee
Blanchard
also enjoys working with film director, producer, writer, and actor
Spike Lee. They’ve worked on numerous projects together for nearly 30
years.
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