Jake Heggie

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Jake Heggie (born in West Palm Beach,Florida, March 31,1961) is an American composer and pianist.

Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas "Dead Man Walking" (2000), "The End of the Affair" (2004), "At The Statue of Venus" (2005), and "To Hell and Back" (2006). He is also the composer of more than 200 art songs as well as chamber and concert works. His operas and songs are championed internationally by singers who include Isabel Bayrakdarian, Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, Frederica von Stade, Audra McDonald, Patti LuPone, Joyce DiDonato, Jennifer Larmore, Bryn Terfel and many others. He also accompanies many of these artists in recitals.

[edit] Life

In 1998 he was appointed composer in residence to the San Francisco Opera, where his first opera Dead Man Walking was first performed in 2000. With a libretto by Terrence McNally and a production by director Joe Mantello, the opera was universally acclaimed and it ran for two extra performances due to popularity. It has since been seen in 15 international productions, including performances at New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Pacific, Baltimore Opera, Calgary Opera, Dresden Opera, State Opera of South Australia, with future performances in Vienna and Sydney. In 2007 alone, "Dead Man Walking" will receive more than 50 performances. Directors of subsequent productions have included Leonard Foglia and Nikolaus Lehnhoff. His second opera, The End of the Affair, was premiered in 2004 at Houston Grand Opera. It has since been produced by Madison Opera, Seattle Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

In 2005, Heggie collaborated again with Terrence McNally to create "At the Statue of Venus", which opened the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. His most recent opera was "To Hell and Back" (libretto by Gene Scheer), commissioned by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and featuring soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and Patti LuPone, conducted by Nicholas McGegan in November 2006.

[edit] Other Works

Heggie's major works also include a cello concerto ("Holy The Firm") commissioned by the Oakland East Bay Symphony for cellist Emil Miland, and the song cycles "The Deepest Desire" (poetry by Sister Helen Prejean), "The Starry Night" (poetry by Anne Sexton, Van Gogh and Emily Dickinson), "Statuesque" (poetry by Gene Scheer), "Rise and Fall" (poetry by Gene Scheer), "Here and Gone" (poetry by Vachel Lindsay and A.E. Housman), and "Winter Roses" (poetry by Raymond Carver, Charlene Baldridge, Frederica von Stade and Emily Dickinson).

Heggie's list of current commissions includes works for the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, Music of Remembrance, Ravinia Festival, and Wigmore Hall.