Turtle Island Quartet

Based on a memoir by journalist Charles M. Blow, jazz trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first opera by a Black composer to debut at the Metropolitan Opera. Though its themes of African American empowerment and some raw language ruffled the usual conservative feathers, the cast recording also won the Grammy for Best Opera Recording this year. For this Austin show, Blanchard, his band the E-Collective, the Turtle Island String Quartet, and singers Nicholas Newton and Adrienne Danrich present excerpts and re-worked pieces from this much-acclaimed show in a streamlined format to spread the word. – Michael Toland