Terence Blanchard's 'Champion' brings new audience to the Met Opera.

Terence Blanchard's opera "Champion" is set to make its New York premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in a revised and expanded version. The opera, which is modeled on the life of boxer Emile Griffith, features new arias and lines for supporting characters, as well as orchestral complexity and vocal elegance. Blanchard, a jazz performer and composer, has been revising the score during rehearsals, demonstrating his flexibility and willingness to tailor the music to the performers. The opera explores Griffith's journey from a straight-coded world to one of queerness, and Blanchard's score synthesizes the varied musical genres he has taken in during his career.