In Partnership With
May 15
artist & composer
Boundary-breaking and genre-defying, Terence Blanchard is recognized globally as a trumpet soloist and a prolific composer for film, television, opera, Broadway, orchestra, and for his own ensembles.
An eight-time Grammy winner, Blanchard became only the second African American composer after Quincy Jones to be nominated twice in the Best Original Score category at the 2021 Academy Awards. Alongside his work composing scores for over 20 Spike Lee projects, Blanchard’s music has created strong backdrops to human stories like The Woman King, One Night in Miami…, Eve’s Bayou, the HBO drama series Perry Mason, and Apple TV’s docuseries They Call Me Magic (for which Blanchard received an Emmy nomination).
Blanchard’s second opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, received its Metropolitan Opera premiere in September 2021, making it the first opera by an African American composer to appear at the Met in its 138-year history. The recording of those performances received the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, and the opera returned to the Met for a highly anticipated second run in April 2024. Blanchard’s first opera, Champion, was performed at the Met in April 2023 to widespread critical acclaim. It received the Grammy for Best Opera Recording in 2024.
Blanchard’s extensive recording catalog includes Absence, a tribute to Wayne Shorter created in collaboration with The E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet. Absence received Grammy nominations in November 2021 for Best Instrumental Jazz Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo for Blanchard. Blanchard’s recorded work has placed him at the forefront of giving voice to human rights, civil rights, and racial injustice, including the 2016 album Breathless, an elegy for Eric Garner.
Born in New Orleans in 1962, Blanchard is a musical polymath who launched his solo career in the 1990s. Since then, he has released 20 solo albums, garnered 15 Grammy nominations, composed music for over 60 films, and received 10 major commissions. He was named a 2024 NEA Jazz Master as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and currently serves as the executive artistic director for SF Jazz, the largest non-profit jazz presenter in the world.
soprano
Adrienne Danrich’s masterful interpretations of new works has received attention from both opera presenters and composers. The 2025–26 season sees Danrich return to the Metropolitan Opera, sing performances of the Fire Shut Up in My Bones Suite, and appear with Cincinnati Opera in the world premiere of Kevin Day’s Lalovavi.
In addition to singing, Danrich is a composer, lyricist, and sound designer. Her one-woman show, This Little Light of Mine: The Stories of Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for On-Camera Talent as a Performer and Narrator.
Danrich is a native of St. Louis and an alum of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
baritone
Grammy Award–winning baritone Will Liverman has been praised internationally for his versatility in both dramatic and comedic roles and for his dedication and vision as a composer, artist, and advisor, helping to evolve and push the performing arts industry forward. He is co-creator of The Factotum, which premiered in a sold-out production at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2023. He was nominated for a 2026 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium.
A recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2022 Beverly Sills Artist Award, Liverman is an alumnus of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Wheaton College in Illinois.
David Balakrishnan, violinGabriel Terracciano, violinBenjamin Gutzeit, violaNaseem Alatrash, cello
Since its founding in 1985, the Turtle Island Quartet has been a singular force in redefining the string quartet for the modern era. Winners of two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Crossover Album, the quartet fuses the classical chamber tradition with jazz, American roots, and global musical influences.
The Turtle Island Quartet has performed worldwide, collaborated with leading artists across genres, and helped reestablish improvisation as a central element of string quartet performance. The group’s latest album, Island Prayers, features world premieres by David Balakrishnan, Terence Blanchard, Rhiannon Giddens, and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate.
https://turtleislandquartet.com/
ensemble
Charles Altura, guitar
Tom Oren, piano
Alex Smith, bass
Mark Whitfield Jr., drums
Andrew F. Scott is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work explores memory, culture, technology, and public space. A key aspect of his practice is collaboration — most notably with musicians such as Terence Blanchard, Fabian Almazan, and Brandee Younger — where he creates immersive visual experiences that enhance live performance and deepen audience engagement. He also collaborates with civic and community partners on public art projects that activate shared spaces and foster cultural connections.
Scott is an associate professor of art and technology at the University of Texas at Dallas. He holds a bachelor’s from Long Island University, Southampton, and a master’s from The Ohio State University, where he also studied at its Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design.
Step inside The World(s) of Terence Blanchard, the genre-bending opening night of the 2026 Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival, curated by the visionary and versatile trumpeter and composer himself.
The evening opens with arias from his groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones, featuring Adrienne Danrich, Will Liverman, the E-Collective, and the Turtle Island Quartet. In the second half, the stage transforms for Blanchard’s electrifying Malcolm X Jazz Suite, drawn from his unforgettable score for Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X and paired with immersive projections by Blanchard’s longtime collaborator Andrew F. Scott — a powerful, cinematic journey through sound and image.
Matthew Unkenholz, projectionist
We offer a variety of concessions before and after the concert, as well as during intermission.
*Donor exclusive lounge areas. Learn more about becoming a donor.
Below is a list of the features and services available in at Severance for this concert. You may also request assistance in advance of a concert by calling the Severance Ticket Office at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141 or create a request using the button below.
Jump to:
Tri-C JazzFest returns June 25 – 27 with a World-Class Lineup.
