Based on the 2014 memoir by Charles M. Blow, with music by Terence Blanchard, and libretto by Kasi Lemmons, the opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones premiered at Opera Theater St. Louis in 2019. The Metropolitan Opera opened its season with the work in in 2021 – the first in its 138 years written by an African American composer. It became an unparalleled success and was staged again during the Met’s 2023-2024 season. In an effort to continue the message that opera and classical music are for everyone, Blanchard and The E-Collective have teamed up with the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet and visual artist Andrew F. Scott to create a concert production that features excerpts from the opera performed by the composer, this incredible ensemble, and two guest singers. The music and Scott’s video projections give the audience a look inside the mind of Blanchard and the world he created.
