Dallas, Texas (August 29, 2023) — KERA and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra today announce the premiere and air dates for Terence Blanchard in Dallas, a new broadcast program documenting the seven-time GRAMMY® winner and twice Oscar-nominated composer Terence Blanchard’s appearances at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in February 2023. The hour-long program features the Dallas Symphony Orchestra performing selections from Blanchard’s opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones; a jazz set with Blanchard on trumpet, his E-Collective band and the Turtle Island Quartet; and conversations with Blanchard, soprano Karen Slack and bassist David Ginyard. The broadcast will premiere on Tuesday, September 5 at 8:00PM on KERA TV and will re-air on Friday, September 8 at 11:00PM and Sunday, September 10 at 12:00PM. KERA will distribute Terence Blanchard in Dallas to PBS stations across the country this fall, through American Public Television.

“The Dallas Symphony was honored to welcome Terence Blanchard back to Dallas for this incredible two-night show this past spring,” said Kim Noltemy, Ross Perot President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. “We are thrilled to partner with KERA to present this remarkable program spotlighting the genius of Terence Blanchard with our orchestra and in our beautiful hall to audiences throughout North Texas and beyond.”

“Collaboration and community is an integral part of KERA’s mission, which is why we are delighted to partner with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for this incredible program featuring the legendary Terence Blanchard,” said Bill Young, Vice President of Television at KERA. “Terence Blanchard in Dallas celebrates world-class artists from around the world and right here in North Texas. We’re excited to share this important program with audiences.”

Terence Blanchard in Dallas includes selections from Blanchard’s groundbreaking opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones as well as jazz performances from his album Absence with the E-Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet. Fire Shut Up in My Bones premiered at The Metropolitan Opera in September 2021 and marked the first time the New York institution staged an opera by a Black composer in its 138-year history. The Washington Post hailed the work as “A watershed moment for American opera…A starting point for something new, a refresh of where opera can take us.” The Chicago Sun Times called it “a major, compelling work by one of the most important, new composing voices in opera.” The New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow’s widely acclaimed memoir of his traumatic youth in Louisiana is the source for this extremely moving story. Librettist Kasi Lemmons, director of such remarkable films as Harriet and Eve’s Bayou, adapted Blow’s text for the opera. Baritone Nicholas Newton and soprano Karen Slack joined the DSO and Assistant Conductor Maurice Cohn for these performances in Dallas.

For the jazz selections, Blanchard was joined by his band, the E-Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet. Blanchard formed his revolutionary jazz band E-Collective in 2015. The group is creatively proficient at layering grooves fueled by funk, rock, R&B and the blues. On their latest album, the double- GRAMMY® -nominated Absence, the groups pay tribute to saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Blanchard’s projects continue to explore issues of racial injustices and the collective conscience. The 2015 album Breathless takes its title from the last words uttered by Eric Garner – “I can’t breathe.” The group presented the world premiere of a multi-disciplinary version of Breathless at the DSO’s 2018 SOLUNA Festival. Caravan: A Revolution on the Road made its debut at Dallas’s Majestic Theatre. He responds, “You get to a certain age when you ask, ‘Who’s going to stand up and speak out for us?’ Then you look around and realize that the James Baldwins, Muhammad Alis and Dr. Kings are no longer here … and begin to understand that it falls on you.” Through these expressions and explorations of social injustices, he continues to musically and technically innovate.

ABOUT KERA
KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization serving North Texas through KERA TV, KERA Create, KERA World, KERA Kids 24/7, KERA News, KXT 91.7, WRR 101.1 and the Denton Record-Chronicle. For over 60 years, North Texans have turned to KERA as a vibrant destination for community engagement and lifelong learning. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org.

ABOUT THE DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Fabio Luisi, presents more than 150 orchestra concerts at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, one of the world’s top-rated concert halls. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to inspiring the broadest possible audience with distinctive classical programs, inventive pops concerts and innovative multi-media presentations. As part of its commitment to the community, the orchestra reaches hundreds of thousands of adults and children annually through performances, educational programs and community outreach initiatives. The orchestra also offers more than 200 concerts in neighborhoods throughout Dallas each year, as well as music lessons to more than 900 students as part of its Young Strings and Young Musicians programs.

The DSO has a tradition dating back to 1900 and is a cornerstone of the unique, 118-acre Arts District in Downtown Dallas that is home to multiple performing arts venues, museums and parks – the largest district of its kind in the nation. The DSO is supported, in part, by funds from the Office of Arts & Culture, City of Dallas.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Denise McGovern | Vice President of Communications & Media | Dallas Symphony Orchestra
214.718.7094 | d.mcgovern@dalsym.com