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Featuring The E-Collective

Saturday, April 12, 2025 | 8PM Soka Performing Arts Center at Soka University of America

Terence Blanchard Featuring the E-Collective

Featured Performers

Terence Blanchard trumpet

Charles Altura guitar

Fabian Almazan piano, synthesizers

Oscar Seaton drums

David “DJ” Ginyard bass

This concert is presented in partnership with BluePort Jazz

In partnership with KCRW

TERENCE BLANCHARD

trumpet

Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies – past and present. A true “Renaissance” man, Blanchard stands tall as one of jazz’s mostesteemed trumpeters and defies expectations by creating a spectrum of artistic pursuits. Boundary-breaking and genredefying, Blanchard is recognized globally as a dazzling soloist and a prolific composer for film, television, opera, Broadway, orchestras and for his own ensembles. In fact, leading theater magazine TheaterMania recently cited Blanchard as “the most exciting American composer working in opera today.”

An eight-time Grammy Winner and twice Oscar-nominated film composer, Blanchard became only the second African-American composer to be nominated twice in the original score category at the 2022 Academy Awards, duplicating Quincy Jones’ feat from 1967’s In Cold Blood and 1985’s The Color Purple. Blanchard’s work has placed him at the forefront of giving voice to human rights, civil rights, and racial injustice, including the 2016 album “Breathless,’’ an elegy for Eric Garner, who was killed by police and whose words, “I can’t breathe,” became a civil rights rallying cry.

Blanchard is also heralded as a twotime opera composer whose Fire Shut Up in My Bones is based on the

memoir of celebrated writer and New York Times columnist Charles Blow. The Metropolitan Opera premiered Fire Shut Up in My Bones on September 27, 2021, to open their 2021-22 season in New York, making it the first opera composer by an African American composer to premiere at the Met in its 138year history. The recording of those performances received a Grammy Award for “Best Opera Recording,” and The New York Times heralded “Fire” as “inspiring,” “subtly powerful” and “a bold affecting adaptation

of Charles Blow’s work.” Of the historical moment, Blanchard said, “I don’t want to be a token, but a turnkey.” “Fire” has been widely recognized as one of our nation’s most important cultural milestones and returns to the Met for a highlyanticipated second run in April of 2024.

Blanchard’s first opera, Champion, about the troubled life of boxer Emile Griffith, premiered in 2013 and starred Denyce Graves with a libretto from Pulitzer Prize Winner, Michael Cristofer. Champion premiered at the Met in April 2023 to widespread critical acclaim. It too received a 2024 Grammy for “Best Opera Recording.”

But there is a center of gravity. It’s Blanchard’s beautiful, provocative, inspiring jazz recordings that undergird all these projects. The same holds true now as it did early in his career in 1994 when he told DownBeat: “Writing for film is fun, but nothing can beat being a jazz musician, playing a club, playing a concert.”

From his expansive work composing the scores for over 20 Spike Lee projects over three decades - ranging from the documentary When the Levees Broke to the recent Lee films, BlacKkKlansman and Da 5 Bloods (both of which garnered Blanchard Oscar nominations), Terence has interwoven beautiful melodies that create strong backdrops to human stories like Regina King’s One Night in Miami; Kasi Lemmons’ Eve’s Bayou; George Lucas’ Red

Tails; the HBO drama series Perry Mason (now in its second season); Apple TV’s docuseries They Call Me Magic (for which Blanchard received an Emmy nomination) and Gina Prince Bythewood and Viola Davis’ critically acclaimed film, The Woman King.

In his expansive career as a recording leader Blanchard delivered Absence, a collaboration with his longtime E-Collective band and the acclaimed Turtle Island Quartet which received Grammy nominations in November 2021 for Best Instrumental Jazz Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo for Blanchard. Recorded in February 2020 just before the Covid-19 lockdowns, Absence started out as a project to show gratitude to Wayne Shorter. “I knew that Wayne wasn’t feeling well at the time, so I wanted to honor him to let him know how much he has meant to me,” says Blanchard who today lives in Los Angeles as well as in his native New Orleans. “When you look at my own writing, you can see how much I’ve learned from Wayne. He mastered writing compositions starting with a simple melody and then juxtaposing it against the harmonies that come from a different place to make it come alive in a different light.”

Born in New Orleans in 1962, Blanchard is a musical polymath who launched his solo career as a bandleader in the 1990s. Since then, he has released 20 solo albums, garnered 15 Grammy nominations, composed for the stage and for more than 60 films, and received

10 major commissions. He has been named an official 2024 NEA Jazz Master as well as a member of the 2024 class of awardees for the esteemed American Academy of Arts and Letters, and currently serves as the Executive Artistic Director for SF Jazz, the largest nonprofit jazz presenter in the world.

Regarding his consistent attachment to artistic works of conscience, Blanchard confesses, “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. I’m not trying to say I’m here to try to correct the whole thing, I’m just trying to speak the truth.” In that regard, he cites unimpeachable inspirations. “John Coltrane playing Alabama, even Louis Armstrong talking about what was going on with his people any time he was interviewed. Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter who live by their Buddhist philosophy and try to expand the conscience of their communities. I’m standing on all their shoulders. How dare I come through this life having had the blessing of meeting those men and not take away any of that? Like anybody else, I’d like to play feel good party music but sometimes my music is about the reality of where we are.”

BluePort Jazz

Dr. Jim Merod - Jazz Monsters Curator

Dr. Jim Merod is a professor of American Literature at Soka University and has a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Merod has been heavily involved in the jazz scene for more than 20 years as a recording and mastering engineer, working with legendary jazz and blues musicians such as Tito Puente, Joe Lovano, Tommy Flanagan, Sarah Vaughan, Eddie Palmieri, Wynton Marsalis, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Tolu, Los Lobos, Ozomatli, and Luciana Souza. Merod helps cultivate the culture of jazz at SUA through BluePort Jazz’s partnership with Soka Performing Arts Center.

Merod’s contribution to the jazz world is not limited to his engineering work. He is also the co-author of legendary composer-saxophonist Benny Golson’s autobiography. Through his founding of BluePort Sound recording studio and BluePort Jazz record label, Merod has established himself as an important figure in the jazz community. His dedication to jazz has helped make Elario’s Jazz Club, in La Jolla, California, one of the premier jazz venues on the west coast.

Aside from his work in the music industry, Merod has also been a teacher, critic, and writer. He attributes his intellectual growth to his influential teachers at Princeton, Middlebury College, and Stanford,

such as R. P. Blackmur, Walter Kaufman, William Arrowsmith, Harold Bloom, David Halliburton, Bliss Carnochan, and his friend and colleague at Cornell, A. R. Ammons.

With his vast experience in both academia and the music industry, Jim Merod has left a remarkable impact on the world of jazz and is highly respected for his contributions to the genre.

Intermission Reception

Our mission is to Engage, Educate, and Elevate the Human Spirit

Soka Performing Arts Center strives to elevate humanity through transcendent experiences. Come experience our exquisite acoustics. Come to expand your understanding and appreciation of music. Come to forge community and emotional connections through the shared experience of live music.

Soka Performing Arts Center is located on the beautiful hilltop campus of Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo. Our facility includes the 1,042seat Concert Hall featuring world-class acoustics designed by master acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, designer of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, among many others. We also have an intimate 350-seat Black Box Theatre that allows for multiple seating configurations including club seating with bistro tables.

More than 750 performances have taken place since the center’s dedication on May 27, 2011. The 2024-25 season marks our thirteenth season presenting first-class programming in our world-class concert hall. We are continuing to expand our programming and outreach with the addition of a Children’s Concert Series and the only Great Pianists Series on the West Coast. From classical and jazz to world and contemporary music, the Soka Performing Arts Center has become a prized space for artists and audiences alike.

We are proud to be the home of the Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Our Sundays @ Soka Series with Pacific Symphony continues to be one of our most popular series year after year. Our presentations with other Orange County arts organizations have enabled us to reach further into our community to offer arts education and programming. Our partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County includes our PSOC Series, which brings superlative artists to our stage. We also partner with PSOC for our Outreach Program, bringing over 7,000 school children to Soka Performing Arts Center to experience live performances with outstanding musicians.

With its world-class acoustics and first-class performances, Soka Performing Arts Center is quickly becoming one of the cultural jewels of Orange County.

OUR SUPPORTERS

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE ($75,000+)

Dr. Kenneth & Sandra Tokita

Sam* & Lyndie Ersan

CONCERTMASTER ($10,000+)

Ms. Emi Maeda

STAGE CHAMPION ($5000+)

Yoshitomo & Takemi Daido

STAGE BENEFACTOR ($1000+)

Anonymous

OC Chinese Cultural Club

John and Sue Prange

Terumi Saito

Jochen Schumacher

Alex & Sandy Scott

Scott A Shuping

Anson and Marilyn Wong

PLATINUM CLEF ($500+)

Anonymous

Jeffrey Hendrix

Edward D. Jones

Jane A. Lynch

GOLD CLEF ($200+)

Judy Kaufman

Lorraine Leiser

Naomi Uchiyama

SILVER CLEF ($100+)

Renée Bodie

Sam Chang

Masako Inage

Debrah Jiang

Chiharu Nagai

Paul Porto

Thomas Prigorac

Jonia Suri

Joseph Whittaker

BRONZE CLEF ($25+)

Raquel Bruno

Kenneth Hanawa

Ryosuke Iga

Jeannette Pease

Joyce M Wrice

Taro Yamanashi

* Deceased

List current as of 09/26/2024

The Soka Performing Arts Center deeply appreciates the support of its sponsors and donors, and makes every effort to ensure accurate and appropriate recognition. Contact Renée Bodie, General Manager at (949) 480-4821 to make us aware of any error or omission in the foregoing list.

DONATE TO SOKA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Your support helps ensure Soka Performing Arts Center fulfills its purpose: to engage, educate, and elevate the human spirit. Your gift supports the programming of world-class performances, provides transformative educational outreach experiences, and opens the opportunity to build engagement with our community by sharing the joy of live music.

Our subscription and renewal program provides you with even more flexibility in our season packages*. With our enhanced program, you now have the power to curate your very own unique experience.

• 15% Discount for a 3 performance package

• 18% Discount for a 4 performance package

• 20% Discount for a 5+ performance package

*full details online at soka.edu/pac

OUR PARTNERS

• Blueport Jazz and Dr. Jim Merod

• Philharmonic Society of Orange County

• Pacific Symphony

• Parnassus Society

SOKA PAC MANAGEMENT TEAM

Renée Bodie

General Manager & Artistic Director

John Morgan

Box Office Manager

Antoinette Rossman

House Manager/Assistant to the General Manager

Jaime Spataro

Marketing & Communications Manager

Steve Baker

Production Manager

Aadya Agrawal

Stage Manager

Jarmil Maupin

Internal Events Manager

Piano Tuners

Kathy Smith Lead Tuner

Ron Elliott

David Stoneman

David Vanderlip

Website soka.edu/pac

Soka Performing Arts Center resides on the beautiful campus of Soka University of America. We thank the SUA Board of Trustees and the SUA Leadership Council for all of their support.

SUA BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Stephen S. Dunham, JD | CHAIR

Vice President and General Counsel Emeritus, Pennsylvania State University | Baltimore, Maryland

Tariq Hasan, PhD | VICE CHAIR

Chief Executive Officer, SGI-USA | New York, New York

Andrea Bartoli, PhD

President, Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue | New York, New York

Matilda Buck

Benefactor | Los Angeles, California

Lawrence E. Carter, Sr, PhD, DD, DH, DRS

Dean, Professor of Religion, College Archivist and Curator, Morehouse College | Atlanta, Georgia

Andy Firoved

CEO, HOTB Software | Irvine, California

Jason Goulah, PhD

Professor of Bilingual-Bicultural Education and Director, Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education, Director of Programs in Bilingual-Bicultural Education, World Language Education, and Value-Creating Education for Global Citizenship, College of Education, DePaul University | Chicago, Illinois

Clothilde V. Hewlett, JD

Commissioner of Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, State of California | San Francisco, California

Karen Lewis, PhD

Sondheimer Professor of International Finance and Co-Director, Weiss Center for International Financial Research, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Luis Nieves

Founder, Chairman Emeritus AUL Corp, Benefactor | Napa, California

Isabel Nuñez, PhD, MPhil, JD

Professor of Educational Studies, Dean of School of Education, Purdue University Fort Wayne | Fort Wayne, Indiana

Gene Marie O’Connell, RN, MS

Health Care Consultant, Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing | Corte Madera, California

Adin Strauss

General Director, Soka Gakkai International-USA | Santa Monica, California

Yoshiki Tanigawa

Benefactor, Soka Gakkai | Tokyo, Japan

Gregg S. Wolpert

Co-president, The Stahl Organization | New York, New York

Edward M. Feasel, PhD

President, Soka University of America (ex-officio member) | Aliso Viejo, California