BLUE

Composer JEANINE TESORI | Librettist TAZEWELL THOMPSON

My Journey to Writing an Opera About Police Violence

Tazewell Thompson’s libretto for “Blue” tells the story of a black family struck by tragedy.

by Tazewell Thompson

June 20, 2020

Gioncarlo Valentine for The New York Times

When the opera “Blue” had its premiere last summer at the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y., Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times that it featured “one of the most elegant librettos I’ve heard in a long time.”

Its author was the playwright and director Tazewell Thompson, who wrote the story about a black family — the father a police officer — that is torn apart when the son is killed at a protest by another officer.

In March, before several stagings of the work were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Music Critics Association of North America decided to award “Blue” its prize for best new opera. Announced on Wednesday, the honor is sadly timely as the nation is roiled by unrest over police brutality and race relations.

Read the full New York Times article here.

Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s "Blue" wins MCANA’s Best New Opera Award

From the MCANA Committee:

“Blue, an all-too-timely story of one family’s devastating loss—the teenage son of a black police officer is killed by a white police officer—is given universal resonance by Jeanine Tesori’s gripping, accessible music and Tazewell Thompson’s poignant, unflinching libretto. Blue was selected as the recipient of this year's award in mid-March, and we at MCANA are proud to be announcing the award now, in this difficult time, when many of its planned productions around the country had to be canceled, and because incidents like the one at the center of the opera continue to occur. We hope that this important work will see many more performances in the future." Link to full press release here.

‘Blue’ is the opera on police violence that America needs to see, but can’t

by Michael Andor Brodeur

“The good news is that the Music Critics Association of North America announced Wednesday that composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson are the recipients of its 2020 award for best new opera for their two-act tragedy and breakout Glimmerglass Festival hit, “Blue.” That accolade is well deserved; “Blue” is a triumph.

The bad news — for every opera but especially “Blue” and especially now — is that the work is nowhere to be seen.” Link to full Washington Post article here.