Jazz legend Terence Blanchard returns to Cleveland this spring, teaming up with the Cleveland Orchestra for the fourth annual Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival.
The New Orleans native may be best known for scoring Spike Lee films such as “Malcolm X,” “Summer of Sam” and “BlacKkKlansman.” From May 15-24, he’ll return to University Circle and curate this year’s festival, with the theme of courage.
“The courage to speak your mind, to listen and truly hear, and to make space for every voice as we come together as a community,” Blanchard said in a statement. “It gives us the opportunity to use a range of musical and artistic experiences to explore who we are as human beings, who we need to be moving forward, and how we can reconnect with our shared humanity.”
On opening night, “The World(s) of Terence Blanchard” include his opera “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” featuring the Turtle Island Quartet. The show also includes his “Malcolm X Jazz Suite” along with visual projections by longtime collaborator Andrew F. Scott.
The centerpiece opera this year is Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” the story of how Leonore, disguised as the titular prison guard, rescues her husband from political imprisonment. The performances May 16, 21 and 24 at Severance feature Malin Byström and David Butt Philip. On May 22, the orchestra also presents a program that includes Dvořák’s “Hero’s Song.”
Other performances, many of them free, include Grammy-winning spoken word artist Tarriona "Tank" Ball, an evening of Northeast Ohio choral groups and an edition of the NPR show “The Moth,” presented by Ideastream Public Media.
Previous festivals have centered on the American dream, power and reconciliation.
