Jake Heggie
Jake Heggie
About this Artist
American composer Jake Heggie is best known for Dead Man Walking (2000), the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years, with a libretto by Terrence McNally, and his critically acclaimed operas Moby-Dick (2010), Three Decembers (2008), and It’s a Wonderful Life (2016), all with libretti by Gene Scheer. In addition to 10 full-length operas and numerous one-acts, Heggie has composed more than 300 art songs, as well as concertos, chamber music, choral, and orchestral works. His compositions have been performed on five continents, and he regularly collaborates with some of the world’s most beloved artists as both composer and pianist.
Heggie actively seeks out projects that invite a wide range of perspectives and possibilities. The 2024/25 season begins with the world premiere of Good Morning, Beauty, Heggie’s first collaboration with librettist Taylor Mac, for the closing-night festivities of London’s Classical Pride hosted by Nick Grimshaw. Heggie and Jawole Zollar team up again for the world premiere of Earth 2.0, commissioned by the Fort Worth Symphony. Songs for Murdered Sisters, Heggie’s cycle written in collaboration with Margaret Atwood, will receive performances in Philadelphia and New York’s Carnegie Hall with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, featuring Joshua Hopkins. Also at Carnegie Hall, Heggie’s new commission for countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen receives its world premiere before touring to Washington, D.C., and Houston. The Metropolitan Opera welcomes a stunning new Leonard Foglia production of Moby-Dick in March 2025.