New Orleans musician, composer and educator Terence Blanchard is already an Academy Award-nominated and a multiple Grammy Award-winning mind. Now, he can add Variety Artisan Award winner to his CV, thanks to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
TIFF selected Blanchard as the recipient of this year’s Variety Artisan Award due to the excellence with which he practices his craft and his “outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment.” Some of his work includes his Oscar-nominated score for Spike Lee’s 2018 film BlacKKKlansman, for which he took home a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition; scores for Lee’s Malcolm X and When the Levees Broke; the scores for Kasi Lemmons’ Eve’s Bayou and Harriet; and much, much more.
Co-Head of TIFF Joana Vicente said in a press release, “For over 25 years Terence Blanchard has composed some of the most breathtaking and moving scores in film and television. From his frequent work with Spike Lee on 25th Hour, BlacKKKlansman and most recently Da 5 Bloods, and Kasi Lemmons on Eve’s Bayou and last year’s Harriet, he has created musical wonders for audiences and helped to elevate every project he has been a part of. We are thrilled to be honouring him with the TIFF Variety Artisan Award and to showcase his dynamic work, including One Night in Miami and Bruised, both of which we look forward to sharing with our TIFF audiences this September.”
Blanchard will receive his award during the ceremony broadcast on Tuesday, September 15 at 7 p.m. Central on the CTV channel and online networks. The Toronto International Film Festival will be streamed by Variety, which serves as the event’s exclusive trade media partner and the namesake for the Variety Artisan award.
The 45th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10–19, 2020.
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Blanchard recently made even more history as the first Black composer to have an opera staged by New York City’s esteemed Metropolitan Opera. He was also named 2020 Humanist of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH).
