“… stands comparison with, say, Poulenc in the 20th century…” The Sunday Times, London
“…Heggie’s way with music, the way in which his choices unlock and intensify the poetry and drama of the words, is consistently illuminating, full of surprises.” Gramophone Magazine
“arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer” The Wall Street Journal
“U.S. opera’s most successful composer” Opera News
Jake Heggie, Composer & Pianist
Complete Biography
Jake Heggie is the American composer of the operas Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), Moby-Dick (libretto by Gene Scheer), It’s A Wonderful Life (Scheer), If I Were You (Scheer), Great Scott (McNally), Three Decembers (Scheer), For a Look or a Touch (Scheer) and Two Remain (Scheer), among others. In addition to eight full-length operas and several one-acts, Heggie has composed nearly 300 art songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral and orchestral works. He recently completed and recorded Songs for Murdered Sisters, a song cycle based on new poems by Margaret Atwood, created for baritone Joshua Hopkins and commissioned by Houston Grand Opera. Earlier this year, he completed INTONATIONS: Songs from the Violins of Hope (texts by Gene Scheer), a dramatic song cycle featuring mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and violinist Daniel Hope, recorded live for Pentatone. The label recently released a new all-Heggie recording titled Unexpected Shadows, featuring mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and cellist Matt Haimovitz. Heggie is currently at work with Gene Scheer on a new opera for the Houston Grand Opera titled Intelligence.
Frederica von Stade & Keith Phares
Photo Brett Coomer
Heggie’s operas – most created with Gene Scheer or the late Terrence McNally – have been produced on five continents. In 2019, Dead Man Walking received its 70th international production at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, the first American opera to be produced by that company. New York’s Metropolitan Opera has announced Dead Man Walking for a future season in a bold new production by director Ivo van Hove, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Since its San Francisco Opera premiere in 2000, Dead Man Walking has been recorded live twice and performed more than 300 times, making it the most-performed American opera of the 21st Century. In addition to major productions throughout the USA, Dead Man Walking has been seen in Dresden, Vienna, London, Madrid, Sydney, Adelaide, Calgary, Montreal, Cape Town, Dublin, Copenhagen, and Malmö. Moby-Dick has received 12 international productions since its 2010 premiere at The Dallas Opera; San Francisco Opera’s production was telecast as part of Great Performances’ 40th anniversary season and released on DVD (EuroArts). It is also the subject of a book by Robert Wallace, titled Heggie & Scheer’s Moby-Dick – A Grand opera for the 21st Century (UNT Press). Three Decembers, Heggie & Scheer’s three-character chamber opera, has received 30 international productions and was recently recorded by Opera San Jose in a new production starring Susan Graham.
A Guggenheim Fellow, Heggie has also served as a mentor for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative and CU Boulder’s New Opera Workshop. In 2016, he was awarded the Eddie Medora King Prize by the UT Austin Butler School of Music. He was also the recipient of the Champion Award from the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus in a private concert that featured a performance by the great Patti LuPone. Heggie was the keynote speaker for the 2016 meeting of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) in Dallas and has given commencement addresses at the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music. He is a frequent guest artist and master teacher at universities and conservatories, including Boston University, Bucknell, Cincinnati Conservatory, Cornell, Eastman, CU Boulder, Northwestern, Peabody Conservatory, Roosevelt, The Royal Conservatory in Toronto, San Diego State, UNI, UNT, UT Austin, USC’s Thornton School, Vanderbilt University, and at festivals such as SongFest at the Colburn School.
Jake Heggie lives in San Francisco with his husband, Curt Branom. jakeheggie.com
Note: When printing or publishing Jake’s bio, please include the website address jakeheggie.com

Jake Heggie, Composer & Pianist
Short Biography
Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick, It’s A Wonderful Life, If I Were You, Great Scott, Three Decembers and Two Remain, among others. He has also composed nearly 300 songs, as well as chamber, choral and orchestral works. The operas – most created with Gene Scheer or the late Terrence McNally – have been produced on five continents. Dead Man Walking (McNally) has been recorded twice and in 2019 received its 70th international production, making it the most-performed American opera of our time. New York’s Metropolitan Opera recently announced that it will produce Dead Man Walking in a bold new production by director Ivo van Hove, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Moby-Dick (Scheer) was telecast throughout the United States as part of Great Performances’ 40th Season and released on DVD (EuroArts). Great Scott was a 2019 Grammy Award nominee for Best New Composition, Classical. The composer was awarded the Eddie Medora King prize from the UT Austin Butler School of Music and the Champion Award from the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. A Guggenheim Fellow, Heggie has served as a mentor for the Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative and is a frequent guest artist at universities, conservatories and festivals throughout the USA and Canada. INTONATIONS: Songs from the Violins of Hope (Scheer) recently received a premiere and live recording. Upcoming are Songs for Murdered Sisters, a song cycle to new poems by Margaret Atwood, and Intelligence (Scheer), a new opera for the Houston Grand Opera. jakeheggie.com
Note: When printing or publishing Jake’s bio, please include the website address jakeheggie.com
Patrick Summers, Frederica Von Stade & Jake Heggie
Photo Brett Coomer
Morgan Smith, Gordon Getty, Robert Orth, Lisa Delan & Jay Hunter Morris
Seated: Jake Heggie, Zheng Cao, Nicolle Foland & Talise Trevigne
Manuel Palazzo, Patrick Summers, Rodell Rosel, Mark Hancock, Jake Heggie, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Frederica Von Stade, Michael Mayes, Ailyn Pérez, Anthony Roth Constanzo, Terrence McNally & Kevin Burdette
Karen Almond, The Dallas Opera
Mark Hancock, Kevin Burdette, Nathan Gunn, Jack O’Brien, Frederica Von Stade, Jake Heggie, Patrick Summers, Terrence McNally, Bob Crowley, Joyce DiDonato, John de los Santos, Elaine J. McCarthy, Ailyn Pérez, Anthony Roth Constanzo, Rodell Rosel & Michael Mayes
Karen Almond, The Dallas Opera
Photo Art & Clarity
Photo Claudine Gossett
Patrick Summers, Keith Phares, Gene Scheer, Frederica von Stade, Jake Heggie & Kristin Clayton
Photo Brett Coomer
Photo Art & Clarity
Karen Almond, The Dallas Opera
Photo Art & Clarity
Photo Art & Clarity