FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES

The Met’s Grammy Award winning production offers moments of lyricism in a painful coming-of-age story.

Oscar-nominated and seven-time Grammy-winning composer and jazz musician Terence Blanchard made history when his FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES became the first opera by a Black composer to be performed by the Metropolitan Opera. Blanchard’s adaptation of New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s memoir features a libretto by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, which marks her first foray into opera. The work tells a profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a childhood of trauma and hardship. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown co-direct the opera, and Brown, who is also the production’s choreographer, is the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a stellar cast starring baritone Will Liverman, sopranos Angel Blue and Latonia Moore, and 13-year-old Walter Russell III, who made his Met debut in this production. In 2023, the production was awarded with a Grammy in the category best opera recording.

 “A watershed moment for American opera … A defiant, tender, and vital work of art … A starting point for something new, a refresh of where opera can take us.” (The Washington Post)

“Will Liverman gives a breakthrough performance … Angel Blue brings her luminous soprano voice and unforced charisma.” (The New York Times)