Terence Blanchard to Receive George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard is slated to receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America and address the graduates during the Peabody Conservatory’s 2023 graduation ceremonies on Wednesday, May 24.

The George Peabody Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute, has been presented annually since 1980. Previous recipients include Herbie Hancock, Renée Fleming, Tori Amos, Leon Fleisher, Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Roy Haynes, Quincy Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Marilyn Horne, André Watts, Ella Fitzgerald and Leonard Bernstein.

“We are thrilled to have the privilege of honoring Terence Blanchard, whose remarkable and inspiring achievements in music across multiple genres, from the concert stage, to film, and now opera, are making an indelible mark on American culture,” Peabody dean Fred Bronstein said in a statement. “Fresh off his most recent success with the Metropolitan Opera’s acclaimed new production of Champion, Terence Blanchard is the very embodiment of a 21st-century citizen artist, someone who so intentionally and thoughtfully continues to expand his own artistic horizons and those of his audiences through his powerful creations and performances.”

Blanchard is a five-time Grammy winner. He won his first four Grammys in jazz categories and his fifth for best instrumental composition for “Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil)” (2018). He has also received two Oscar nominations for best original score for his scores for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods (2018) and BlacKkKlansman (2020). Blanchard received his first Primetime Emmy nomination last year for outstanding music composition for a documentary series or special (original dramatic score) for They Call Me Magic.

In his work, Blanchard frequently gives voice to socio-cultural issues and racial injustice. His second “opera in jazz,” Fire Shut Up in My Bones, with libretto by Kasi Lemmons, is based on the best-selling memoir by New York Times journalist Charles M. Blow about his struggles to overcome a cycle of violence. The work opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2021-22 season—the first time a project by an African American composer graced the Met’s stage in its 136-year history.

Blanchard’s first opera, Champion, premiered at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 2013 and is currently on stage at the Met. As a trumpeter, he began his career touring with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra in his teenage years before taking Wynton Marsalis’ place in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

Blanchard’s work as an educator includes serving as the Kenny Burrell Chair in Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, and subsequent roles at The Berklee College of Music, the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami and The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

This year marks the Peabody Conservatory’s 141st graduation exercises. The undergraduate ceremony begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24. A second ceremony for graduate degrees follows at 2 p.m. Both ceremonies will take place in Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall on the Peabody Institute’s Baltimore campus. In-person attendance is ticketed and reserved for graduates and their families and guests; both ceremonies will also be available to view via livestream.

To learn more about the Peabody Institute, visit their site.