Fire Shut Up in My Bones Programme Metropolitan Opera
Fire Shut Up in My Bones Programme Metropolitan Opera
Fire Shut Up in My Bones Programme Metropolitan Opera
in my bones
conductor An Opera in Three Acts by
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Terence Blanchard
co - directors
James Robinson and Based on the Book by
Camille A. Brown Charles M. Blow
set designer
Allen Moyer Libretto by Kasi Lemmons
costume designer Friday, October 1, 2021
Paul Tazewell 7:30–10:35 pm
lighting designer
Christopher Akerlind
projection designer
Greg Emetaz
choreographer
Camille A. Brown The production of Fire Shut Up in My Bones was
made possible by generous gifts from The Ford
Foundation and the Francis Goelet Trusts
TERENCE BLANCHARD’S
fire shut up
in my bones
co n duc to r
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
in order of vocal appearance
ch a r l e s u n cl e pau l
Will Liverman Ryan Speedo Green*
destiny foreman
Angel Blue Norman Garrett
billie ch i ck en plu ck er
Latonia Moore Terrence Chin-Loy
ch a r ’ e s - b a by r u by
Walter Russell III Briana Hunter
william s pi n n er
Cheikh M’Baye Chauncey Packer
n at h a n v er n a
Oleode Oshotse Denisha Ballew
ja m e s lo n el i n e s s
Ejiro Ogodo Angel Blue
r o b er t yo u n g lov ely
Judah Taylor Marguerite Mariah Jones
b er t h a
Cierra Byrd**
o r ch e s t r a r h y t h m s ec t i o n
pa s to r
pi a n o Bryan Wagorn*
bass Matt Brewer
Donovan Singletary*
gu i ta r Adam Rogers
d r u m s Jeff Watts
wo m a n s i n n er
Briana Hunter
a d u lt r o b er t
Calvin Griffin
a d u lt w i l l i a m
Terrence Chin-Loy
a d u lt n at h a n
Errin Duane Brooks
a d u lt ja m e s
Norman Garrett
wo m en
Denisha Ballew
Christine Jobson
Jasmine Muhammad
Kimberli Render
Nicole Mitchell
Karmesha Peake
e v ely n
Brittany Renee
k aboom
Donovan Singletary*
* Graduate of the
pl e d g e
Lindemann Young Artist
David Morgans Sanchez
Development Program
Act I
Charles Blow, age 20, drives down a Louisiana backroad with a gun in the
passenger seat. Destiny sings to him, calling him back to his childhood home.
He begins reliving memories from his childhood.
Adult Charles begins to weep as he recoils from these memories, while Destiny
reminds him that there is no escape.
Act II
As Charles grows into a teenager, he is full of confusion and rage, and
tormented by phantom terrors. He attends a church service in which the pastor
is baptizing people, promising that God can wipe all sins clean. Charles decides
to get baptized, but it fails to free him of his inner demons. Charles tries to
talk to his brothers, but they refuse to engage in any “soft talk.” Loneliness
reappears, promising to be his lifelong companion. Evelyn, a beautiful young
girl, interrupts Charles’s reverie. Their chemistry is clear. Charles feels a new
sense of independence and is finally ready to strike out on his own; Grambling
State University has offered him a full scholarship. Billie is left alone to reflect on
all that she has sacrificed for her family and wonders what might lie ahead.
Act III
At his college, Charles rushes Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, where the brothers
lead an elaborate and energetic step dance. Charles and the other pledges are
hazed, but he stoically takes each indignity in stride: Pain is nothing new for him.
Later, he goes to a frat party and meets an attractive young woman, Greta. They
begin a passionate love affair. Charles eventually shares his awful secret with
Visit metopera.org. 35
Synopsis CONTINUED
Greta, only to find out that she’s still seeing someone else. Charles is left alone
again. He calls home, desperate to hear his mother’s voice. To his shock, Billie
tells him that Chester has come back to visit. Charles instantly decides to return
home to confront Chester, gun in hand.
Charles sits in his car on the dark road, contemplating the choice lying before
him. Destiny starts to sing to him once again, seductively promising to stand
by him through to the bloody end. As Charles reaches his childhood home,
Char’es-Baby appears, urging him to leave his bitterness behind. Charles must
decide whether to exact his revenge or begin his life anew.
36
In Focus
Terence Blanchard
The Creators
Terence Blanchard (b. 1962) is a celebrated composer whose many works
express his roots in jazz but defy further categorization. The six-time Grammy
Award winner was born in New Orleans and became a trumpeter for the Lionel
Hampton Orchestra in 1982. His first opera, Champion, was produced in St.
Louis in 2013. A prolific creator in a wide variety of forms and genres, he is
especially celebrated for his close collaboration with director Spike Lee and his
accomplishments as an award-winning composer of film scores, including for
Malcom X, BlackKklansman, Da 5 Bloods, Mo’ Better Blues, and more than 60
others. Charles M. Blow (b. 1970) is a noted journalist and commentator. He is
a regularly featured op-ed columnist for The New York Times and an anchor for
the Black News Channel. The libretto for Fire Shut Up in My Bones marks the
first foray into opera for Kasi Lemmons (b. 1961), a noted writer, actress, and
director, whose films include Harriet, Talk to Me, and Eve’s Bayou.
Visit metopera.org. 37
In Focus CONTINUED
The Setting
The opera takes place in and around the small and poor town of Gibsland,
in northwestern Louisiana, as well as at Blow’s alma mater, Grambling State
University. The time ranges from Charles’s childhood in the 1970s to his
adulthood in the 1990s.
The Music
Both grounded in the classical idiom and deeply steeped in the form-defying
jazz that has been central to Blanchard’s output, Fire Shut Up in My Bones does
not fit perfectly into any single category or genre. The composer’s use of film-
score techniques—including a lyrical sweep that propels the action forward and
the ability to have a sudden audio “close-up” on a given character—is a notable
feature of the score. Another element worth noting is the use of the music of
the characters themselves and the world that they inhabit, although these
recognizable references are always a part of the overall narrative soundscape.
The music associated with the church services that the struggling Charles
attends, for example, embraces the style of Black spiritual music of this region
but is not a literal recreation. Instead, it tells the story of a character’s experience
with that musical encounter. The vocal writing also parallels this path, composed
for singers with the power of traditional classical training but also requiring a
comfort level with the methods of jazz and gospel singing. Spoken, rather than
sung, passages appear briefly and with dramatic significance, and at many
times during Charles’s flashbacks, he and his younger self, Char’es-Baby, sing
the same lines in unison. The characters of Destiny and Loneliness in particular
express themselves in music that incorporates jazz and classical traditions while
not being entirely defined by one or the other. Charles’s mother Billie, likewise,
has music that must express her great love for her family while simultaneously
showing her inability to express that affection. In this, her music recalls the most
complex and nuanced characters in the operatic repertory. Charles’s soliloquys,
musicalized internal monologues that give voice to the character’s epic
psychological journey to self-acceptance, are prime examples of the score’s
demands on the performer’s skills in several diverse genres at once.
Met History
The first opera by a Black composer performed at the Met, Fire Shut Up in My
Bones opened the 2021–22 season on September 27, 2021, as the company
retook the stage following the longest closure in its history due to the Covid-19
pandemic. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted a production co-
directed by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown and starring baritone Will
Liverman as Charles, soprano Angel Blue as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta, and
soprano Latonia Moore as Billie.
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A Note from James Robinson
W
hen I became artistic director at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2009, among
my first priorities was to embark on a wide-ranging commissioning initiative
called New Works, Bold Voices. The objective was to create new operas
and to provide opportunities for composers to take a second look at operas they
had already premiered. One of the first composers I contacted was jazz trumpeter
Terence Blanchard. I was well acquainted with Terence’s music from his powerful film
scores, and I still consider his haunting album A Tale of God’s Will one of the best
things in my personal music library. After our first meeting, Terence agreed to create
an “opera in jazz,” and in 2013, we premiered Champion, based on the life of bisexual
boxing champ Emile Griffith. The success of Terence’s opera was tremendous, so I
immediately asked him to follow it up with another. Fire Shut Up in My Bones was
premiered in 2019 in St. Louis, and, yet again, it was met with great enthusiasm.
Both of Terence’s operas deal fearlessly with Black men struggling with their identity
and sexuality, in addition to confronting some very difficult and often painful subjects.
The story of Emile Griffith is told through the fog of pugilistic dementia and confronts
the athlete’s search to embrace his love of other men. As Emile sings in the opera
(after being haunted by the death of an opponent he killed during a bout): “I kill a
man, and the world forgives me. I love a man, and the world wants to kill me.” Charles
M. Blow’s elegant and gripping memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones reveals a man
haunted by the abuse he suffered at the hands of an older cousin and how coming to
terms with his own sexuality became a lifelong journey. And while not everyone has
experienced the reality of growing up poor in rural Louisiana, Blow’s memoir touches
on universal themes that are both resonant and relevant. In both operas, an honest
light is shone on taboos, social norms, and stereotypes. And what I find particularly
moving is how Terence uses music to give these characters compelling voices.
In the opera, Charles is faced with a brutal choice and looks back on his life to
understand what has led him to a potentially life-ruining crossroads. He questions his
role in certain traumatic events and wonders how he could have changed the course of
his own personal history. His is a journey of self-loathing, self-discovery, and eventually
self-forgiveness. Charles states that he is a “stranger in my hometown,” and I find this
idea deeply affecting, for many of us have felt the loneliness of not fitting in or not
belonging, even in an environment that should be comforting and familiar.
While preparing Fire Shut Up in My Bones, first in St. Louis and now at the Met, one
of the challenges was how to adapt Kasi Lemmons’s gorgeously cinematic libretto to
the stage. Early on, Kasi and I talked about how a memoir is like a collection of old
photographs. With that in mind, the creative team and I—now joined by co-director
and choreographer Camille A. Brown, with whom I had the immense honor of working
with on Porgy and Bess—set out to create a fluid, multi-layered, almost collage-like
production. I cannot say enough about how thrilled I am to be involved in this historic
production at the Met and to work with this extraordinary composer, librettist, and cast.
—James Robinson
C
ontributing my voice to Terence Blanchard’s beautiful and haunting
music, creating movement language for Kasi Lemmons’s libretto,
sharing the story of celebrated writer Charles M. Blow, and co-directing
with James Robinson, with whom I had the pleasure of working on Porgy
and Bess, has been a dream. It has also been uniquely challenging because
I joined the Fire Shut Up in My Bones project at the height of the pandemic,
five years after work began on the original production. Not only did I have to
choreograph, I had to find my directorial voice, among a team that had been
collaborating for years. It was daunting, thrilling, and overwhelming to play
catch-up. I started with what I know—dance—and approached the piece the
same way I approach all of my creative work, asking questions, investigating,
and listening. How could I make sure that the gestures and movements stayed
true to the intentions of the composer? How could my direction amplify the
voice and the heart of this piece?
In the director’s seat, I wanted to play with abstraction and time travel,
capturing the psyche of Charles, his inner turmoil, and his tussles with Destiny
and Loneliness. We treated each scene as though it were one of those aged
Polaroid pictures—static in time, with the only breath being Charles, walking us
through his journey, the pictures shapeshifting as we follow him along. Isolated
both spiritually and physically, it was important to show Charles’s struggles, his
longing for peace, and his search for a savior—only to realize that his savior was
himself, the younger version of himself, giving him grace and resolve.
Two phrases within the show resonate with me: “Sometimes you gotta’ just
leave it in the road” and “I bend , I don’t break, I sway.”
They speak to the specificity of the Black experience but also call upon a
universal theme of determination and the need for personal resolution. Charles
experienced a traumatic childhood event, which changed his life. He ultimately
finds the strength and motivation to “leave it in the road.” Past traumas can
either haunt us or heal us. Charles’s story empowers us with the understanding
that the devastation of the past does not have to define our futures. We too can
give ourselves the grace to let go. Fire also illuminates themes of perseverance
and resilience—both hallmarks of the Black experience. We don’t break, we
sway. We never give in. Our light will never go out. To honor this, I wanted to
find a way—amid the struggle—to elevate the stuff of the Black experience that
celebrates us. That heals us. That shows us off.
Terence has created a percussive score that is complex and nuanced, and I
have tried to add to that my original artistic expression in movement, bringing
to bear the many influences and elements that make up my individual style.
What I found so thrilling was that I could use step to embody triumph, pain, and
the joy of life, and create a rhythmical score for this powerful “opera in jazz.”
Step is a social dance rooted in African American history and culture, tracing
back more than 200 years to West Africa, transformed by enslaved people
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throughout the Americas. Stepping is energetic, visceral, urgent, and powerful.
It is also embedded in the fabric of Black fraternities and sororities, which were
intentionally created as safe spaces when white Greek-letter organizations
would not let Black men and women join them. It has always been historically
important for Black people to create safe spaces for themselves. What has
emerged from that has been extraordinary: Black people creating community
for themselves everywhere—in the Church, at the jook joint, and at historically
Black colleges and universities. In these safe spaces, we converge to share all
that is messy and radiant in our lives, in our relationships, and in our humanity.
I am humbled and honored to be a part of this show that is inviting audiences
into a vulnerable and poignant story.
At one point in history, Black people were not allowed to perform on the
Met stage and even more so, were not able to authentically portray our own
narratives. The full spectrum of our real lives were unseen. But we did not break.
Once invisible, now beautifully and vibrantly visible. Past, present, and future,
we sway.
—Camille A. Brown
B
lack fraternities and sororities are significant in the African American
community, with the cultural and service-oriented tenets acting as strong
reasons that individuals join. In the early 1900s, America was a place
where Black people were looking for spaces to fit in. Black college students
were looking for others with relatable challenges to bond and organize with for
individual and collective success. There were few avenues for educated Black
people to come together for service to their people and community until these
fraternities and sororities emerged.
The founding of these organizations was influenced and rooted in a legacy
of trauma and hurt—hurt that was carried by individuals who were in the same
generation as families raised in the antebellum South under Jim Crow. They
all promote higher education as a means to elevate their people. They all
advocate for closing wealth and healthcare disparities, civil and voting rights,
affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and jobs with living wages, and
they all believe in robust community service and mentoring. But, as we see in
Fire Shut Up in My Bones, they also were all plagued with unsanctioned and
unfortunate occurrences of hazing.
Charles Blow and I were drawn to the same fraternity—Kappa Alpha Psi—
presumably for the same reasons: the mission of achievement, the idea of
brothers who stand together and stand up for one another, and the comfort
of men who would befriend and never betray. Kappa gave us leaders and
role models to emulate. In fact, most Black men doing significant things were
members of a Black fraternity. These associations help raise the bar for what
one can accomplish, especially against overwhelming odds.
Navigating America as a Black man or woman presents a unique set of
challenges which are marginally mitigated by joining a fraternity or sorority. For
me and Blow, it became important to have the support and encouragement
of a group of people who also aspired to be leaders and change agents. The
potential of being hazed seemed a small price to pay for this bond and legacy
of strength and community. Because of this rationale, pledges and brothers
generally attributed honor and heritage to the legacy of hazing and were each
trained to teach the same to those who followed. And therein lies the cycle of
a historic and horrific mentality that has left a black eye on the great character
and value of fraternities and sororities, otherwise amazing treasures in the
Black community.
I recall similar instances of hazing in pledging Kappa as those depicted
in Blow’s memoir and Terence Blanchard’s opera. The questions Blow asked
himself, I asked myself. The conflicting emotions that he experienced also
surfaced within me. Sadly, after more than 30 years as a brother, I still find myself
trying to balance, equate, and weigh the good versus the brutal and bad.
Blanchard’s opera shows that every individual brings their own stories,
traumas, and experiences with them to college and to fraternities or sororities.
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How they are shaped, formed, and realized will be different for each individual.
For me, pledging was not the highlight of the fraternal experience. I appreciate
that the opera brilliantly captures the beautiful traditions of stepping and
line dancing in celebration of a rich history of achievement. My memories
also involved challenges that shaped me into the man I am today. Not only
did it prepare me for the rigors of being a Black man in America, but it also
helped me see all the possibilities that can be achieved through hard work
and perseverance. These are the same challenges that Blow faced during the
process of joining a fraternity, as well as the general history of Black people
learning to rise above the surrounding circumstances. I am proud that our
fraternities today are exercising safer, legal ways to create bonds that uplift the
next generation of Black leaders in America.
—Sean Pittman
Sean Pittman is an alumnus of Kappa Alpha Psi’s chapter at Florida State
University, where he earned bachelor’s and law degrees and was student body
president. A prominent attorney, philanthropist, and host of The Sean Pittman
Show and podcast, he is past president of the Orange Bowl Committee and
General Counsel of the National Bar Association.
Visit metopera.org. 43
Angel Blue and Eric Owens return this
season in the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
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Terence Blanchard
composer (new orleans , louisiana )
Kasi Lemmons
librettist (st. louis , missouri)
Visit metopera.org. 45
The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED
Charles M. Blow
author (gibsland, louisiana )
career highlights Charles M. Blow has been an op-ed columnist at The New York Times
since 2008. He is also host of PRIME with Charles Blow on the Black News Channel. He is
the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which
won a Lambda Literary Award, the Sperber Prize, and made multiple prominent lists of
best books published in 2014. People called it “searing and unforgettable.” His most-
recent book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, was published in September
2021. He joined The New York Times in 1994 and worked there as a graphics designer and
art director before taking up the role of art director at National Geographic in 2006. Before
going to the Times, he worked as a graphic artist at The Detroit News.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
conductor (montreal , canada )
46
James Robinson
co-director (claremore, oklahoma)
this season Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the
world premieres of Tobias Picker’s Awakenings and a new performing edition of Stewart
Wallace’s Harvey Milk at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
met productions Porgy and Bess (debut, 2019).
career highlights Since 2009, he has served as artistic director of Opera Theatre of
Saint Louis, where his productions have included Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier,
Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, the world premiere of Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown, the
world premieres of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Champion, John
Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer, and Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath. He
directed Porgy and Bess at English National Opera and Dutch National Opera, and his
work has also appeared at the Canadian Opera Company, Opera Australia, Royal Swedish
Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, LA Opera,
Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, and with the London Symphony Orchestra
and Los Angeles Philharmonic, among many others.
Camille A. Brown
co - director and choreographer (new york , new york )
Visit metopera.org. 47
A L S O O N S TAG E
MUSSORGSK Y
BORIS
GODUNOV
One of today’s most commanding dramatic basses,
René Pape brings his definitive portrayal of Boris Godunov
back to the Met stage. Maestro Sebastian Weigle
conducts Mussorgsky’s enthralling Russian epic, which is
presented this season in its original 1869 version.
Allen Moyer
set designer (schuylkill haven, pennsylvania )
this season Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paradise
Square on Broadway, and The Vagrant Trilogy at the Public Theater.
met productions Orfeo ed Euridice (debut, 2007).
career highlights His productions have appeared at the Canadian Opera Company, New
York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Houston
Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Dallas Opera, LA Opera, Scottish Opera,
Washington National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, and Wexford
Festival Opera. Broadway credits include Grey Gardens (Tony and Drama Desk nominations
and Henry Hewes Award), The Lyons, Lysistrata Jones, Thurgood, and Twelve Angry Men.
Other New York credits include productions for Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage,
Roundabout Theatre Company, the New Group, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center
Theater, and Carousel and Showboat with the New York Philharmonic, and between 2017
and 2020, he was resident scenic designer for New York City Center’s Encores! series. For
San Francisco Ballet, with choreographer Mark Morris, he designed Sylvia, and for the Mark
Morris Dance Group, Romeo and Juliet: On Motifs of Shakespeare.
Paul Tazewell
costume designer ( akron, ohio)
this season Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago and MJ on
Broadway.
met productions Faust (debut, 2011).
career highlights He was the winner of a 2016 Tony Award for his work on Hamilton and has
created costumes for two dozen Broadway shows, earning additional Tony nominations for
Ain’t Too Proud, A Streetcar Named Desire, Memphis, In the Heights, The Color Purple, and
Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk. He received an Emmy Award for his work on NBC’s
The Wiz Live!, and further screen credits include the Kasi Lemmons’s 2019 film Harriet and
Stephen Spielberg’s upcoming adaptation of West Side Story. Among his other accolades
are four Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Costume Design, two Lucille Lortel Awards,
and a Henry Hewes Award. His designs have also appeared on the stages of English National
Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, New York City Opera, the
Glimmerglass Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Bolshoi
Ballet, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, New York’s Public Theater, the Kennedy Center, and
Arena Stage, among many others.
Visit metopera.org. 49
A L S O O N S TAG E
PUCCINI
TURANDOT
Blazing soprano Christine Goerke takes on the title role of Puccini’s
grand final masterpiece, starring alongside tenor Yusif Eyvazov as
Calàf and sopranos Gabriella Reyes and Michelle Bradley as Liù.
Marco Armiliato conducts Franco Zeffirelli’s opulent staging.
Christopher Akerlind
lighting designer (hartford, connecticut)
this season Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago and Clyde’s
on Broadway.
met productions Il Barbiere di Siviglia (debut, 2006).
career highlights He has designed more than 600 productions for theater and opera
companies around the world, including nearly two dozen for Broadway. He received Tony
Awards for Indecent and The Light in the Piazza (both also earning him Drama Desk
Awards) and Tony Award nominations for Rocky (for which he also won a Drama Desk
Award), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, 110 in the Shade, Awake and Sing!, and August
Wilson’s Seven Guitars. He is resident lighting designer for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis,
where he has served in that capacity for more than 25 years and where he has contributed
to a number of world premieres, including Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut
Up in My Bones, Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown, Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom,
and Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier. Other premieres include Ricky Ian Gordon’s The
House Without a Christmas Tree at Houston Grand Opera and Joby Talbot’s Everest at
the Dallas Opera.
Greg Emetaz
projection designer (new york , new york )
this season Fire Shut Up in My Bones at the Met for his debut and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
career highlights He has designed video and projections for a number of operatic world
premieres, including Jimmy López’s Bel Canto at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Terence
Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier,
and Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. His work has also
appeared at San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and
Beijing’s National Center for Performing Arts. He served as video director for the 2007–10
New York City Opera VOX Showcases, the 2008–10 NEA Opera Honors, and the 2011 and
2013 NEA Jazz Masters. He is the writer and director of the horror-comedy feature Camp
Wedding and the award-winning shorts Bowes Academy, Death by Omelette, and Spell
Claire. He is also the co-director of the web series Do It Yourselfie: Songs for Millennials
and numerous music videos and commercials.
Angel Blue
soprano (los angeles , california )
Latonia Moore
soprano (houston, texas)
this season Billie in Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Serena in Porgy and Bess at the Met,
Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at the Dallas Opera, Billie at Lyric Opera of Chicago,
and the title role of Aida at LA Opera.
met appearances Serena, Aida (debut, 2012), and Cio-Cio-San.
career highlights Recent performances include Leonora in Il Trovatore at the
Glimmerglass Festival; the title role of Tosca at Austin Opera, Washington National Opera,
Opera Australia, and in Rouen; Mimì in La Bohème at Palm Beach Opera; Serena at Dutch
National Opera and English National Opera; Aida in Buenos Aires and at the Polish
National Opera and English National Opera; and Desdemona in Otello in Bergen, Norway.
She has sung Aida in Zurich and Tokyo; at Opera Australia, Pittsburgh Opera, Cincinnati
Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, San Diego Opera, and the Dallas Opera; and in concert
in Bergen and at Ravinia Festival. Other recent credits include Tosca at New York City
Opera; Fidelia in Puccini’s Edgar in Dortmund, Germany; Cio-Cio-San at San Diego
Opera; Liù in Turandot at Covent Garden; and Liù, Mimì, and Cio-Cio-San in Dresden.
Will Liverman
baritone (virginia beach, virginia )
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