Featuring E-Collective, Turtle Island Quartet, and Andrew F. Scott with guest singers
Nicholas Newton and Adrienne Danrich

Terence Blanchard’s Grammy-winning masterpiece Fire Shut Up in My Bones offers a hybrid classical/jazz/R&B/gospel-inflected score to tell the story of a young man’s journey to overcome and transcend a life of trauma and hardship. The work is based on New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s widely acclaimed memoir, and this concert presentation offers excerpts from the opera performed by the composer, his E-Collective ensemble, the Turtle Island String Quartet, and two guest singers against a backdrop of video projections by Andrew F. Scott. Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements, and Fire Shut Up in My Bones reflects the Black experience in this country today as few other operas have done.

Fire Shut Up in My Bones is Blanchard’s second opera. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis premiered the work in 2019, but the season-opening performance at the Metropolitan Opera in September 2021—the first work in the renowned institution’s 138 years written by an African American composer—received unparalleled success reaching thousands of people for its eight performances and The MET: LIVE in HD broadcasts in theaters all over the world.

This performance addresses adult themes and contains adult language. 

Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 7:30PM in the Colwell Playhouse

See the Krannert Center website for more details and to purchase tickets.