Onstage company
Documented collaborators
Fire Shut Up in My Bones is a landmark opera by composer Terence Blanchard with Kasi Lemmons’ libretto, drawing from Charles Blow’s memoir to tell a powerful story of memory, resilience, and identity. Premiering in 2019 at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the work made history when it opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2021–22 season, marking Blanchard as the first Black composer to have an opera staged at the Met. The opera’s Met recording later won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2023, underscoring Blanchard’s status as a towering figure in contemporary classical and jazz-inflected composition. As Executive Artistic Director of SFJAZZ since 2023, Blanchard continues to shape the landscape of modern American music.