New Orleans native Terence Blanchard will be the first Black composer to have an opera staged by the Metropolitan Opera. “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which premiered in the Opera Theater of St. Louis, will go on the Met’s stage in a coming season as reported by the New York Times.

Blanchard was first introduced to opera by his father, who rehearsed opera regularly at their church. Now, Blanchard is on his second go-around of the opera scene. His first opera, “Champion,” also premiered at the Opera Theater of St. Louis.

“Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is based off the memoir by the New York Times columnist Charles Blow. The book documents Blow’s life growing up in Louisiana with a single mother and dealing with the trauma of his cousin molesting him.

The announcement, made on September 19, came days before the September 23 Met opening of the “Porgy and Bess,” which has a controversial history. The opera, a display of life in Black America, had three white creators and the titular Porgy actor in blackface. However, Michael Cooper of the New York Times wrote in this article that the Met’s general manager Peter Gelb has been working to diversify voices in the Met.

“Mr. Gelb said that [“Fire Shut Up in My Bones’] could come to New York as soon as the 2021-22 season,” wrote Cooper.

Blanchard has recorded several critically acclaimed jazz albums, and has been the composer for Spike Lee’s films since 1991. Most recently he won his sixth Grammy in Best Instrumental Composition for BlacKKKlansman’s “Blut Und Boden (Blood and Soil).” He was nominated for an Academy Award in Best Original Score from the same movie. He also performed at this year’s Jazz Fest. Blanchard appears in Michael Murphy’s new film, “Up From the Streets,” which will screen at the New Orleans Film Festival this October, where he will be honored.