Metropolitan Opera To Present FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES, Its First Opera by a Black Composer

Fire Shut Up in My Bones will have it Metropolitan Opera premiere in the 2020-2021 season.

The composer of First Shut Up in My Bones and jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is the first black composer to have their piece produced by the Metropolitan Opera in its 136-year history.

"Hopefully," Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager told The New York Times, "there will be many more African-American composers whose work we feature.''

Many details are still being worked out, but the production first produced in St. Louis is in talks to be brought to the New York stage, with the Met's music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conducting.

This news comes after the announcement last year that more works by women would be produced, commissioning a Missy Mazzoli work based on George Saunders's novel Lincoln in the Bardo, and a Jeanine Tesori opera, Grounded, based on a George Brant play.

Photo Credit: Camille Mahs