SAN FRANCISCO, CA (CelebrityAccess) – SFJAZZ is proud to announce the appointment of Seven-Time Grammy Winner and Two-Time Academy Award Nominee Terence Blanchard as Executive Artistic Director. This new position will lead the organization’s artistic programming and guide its creative direction. Blanchard’s appointment comes as SFJAZZ Founder Randall Kline prepares to retire from the organization he founded in 1983 this year.
In this new role, Blanchard will be the artistic leader of the organization and will help formulate and implement artistic programming across diverse disciplines and genres. He will work closely with the teams at SFJAZZ to curate year-round concert programming, expand the SFJAZZ ‘At Home’ digital platform, and further develop community engagement and educational offerings. Blanchard’s appointment comes after a national search conducted by Arts Consulting Group.
This year, SFJAZZ is celebrating its 40th Anniversary and the 10th Birthday of the award-winning SFJAZZ Center. Blanchard joins SFJAZZ as it prepares to present the 40th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival, with the 2023-2024 season beginning September 7.
Blanchard is a renowned composer, bandleader, and trumpet player who has been a consistent force in making powerful musical statements for the last four decades. From his time with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers to writing scores for Spike Lee and other films, he is unique in that his creative endeavors go far beyond the genre into film scoring, crafting TV soundscapes, and conceiving grand operas that have been recognized at the highest levels of art appreciation.
A recipient of a 2018 USA Artist Fellowship and a 2023 Peabody Medal, Blanchard is also a passionate educational mentor, having held positions at the Berklee College of Music, The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, and was the Chair of Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, among others. Blanchard is not only an acclaimed artist but has also been at the forefront of giving voice in his works to socio-cultural issues and racial injustices of our time.
Blanchard and SFJAZZ have had a long relationship, with him performing numerous times at the SFJAZZ Center and for the organization. From 2014-2016, he was a SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director and, in 2016, presented his opera Champion: An Opera in Jazz. In August 2022, his E-Collective with the Turtle Island Quartet performed at the SFJAZZ Center.
Said Blanchard, “I am honored and excited to become a part of such an amazing and historic institution. SFJAZZ has meant so much to the development of America’s Greatest art form. I am looking forward to collaborating with the staff while also bringing my own ideas about how to move our music forward and continue the SFJAZZ mission to explore the full spectrum of jazz—from its origins to its diverse and evolving expressions around the world today. I cannot wait to continue this journey.”
