MUSIC: TERRENCE BLANCHARD ‘MAESTRO’
“I don’t see things as having limitations, because it’s all about problem solving for me.”
What is a composer’s role in our present world? What now is the role of the improvising, instrumental soloist? Where is music development headed in what appears to be a radically shifting cultural environment. Perhaps the best gambit for answering these questions would be to ask a musician, like Terence Blanchard, who works in both roles—sometimes simultaneously—on the worlds’ stages. His accomplishments, career, and accolades are monumental: work on multiple soundtracks for Spike Lee, work for Disney’s Princess and the Frog, musical director for Art Blakey’s iconic The Jazz Messengers, a long list of award-winning albums, and two operas premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in consecutive seasons. One thing that sets Blanchard apart in the contemporary scene is that he also publishes his ideas about the significance and meaning of the music he composes and how it is heard and seen.
Read Full Article by Jonathan Freilich in the WINTER issue.
Street Date: Tuesday December 9th 2025
Jonathan Freilich
Jonathan Freilich is a composer/guitarist and leads several performing ensembles. Works span chamber music, electro-acoustic, opera, jazz, and experimental music, as well as film and video. He teaches music theory at Tulane University. He has also produced extensive oral histories of musicians and podcasts on film.
