Heggie Announces Milestone 25/26 Season • June 2025
San Francisco, California
Composer Jake Heggie / photo by James Niebuhr
Fresh off his induction into the Opera Hall of Fame and recognition as Musical America’s 2025 Composer of the Year, Jake Heggie announces a landmark 2025/26 season that reflects his enduring commitment to bold musical storytelling, inclusive collaboration, and mentorship of the next generation of artists.
DEAD MAN WALKING
25th Anniversary – Productions in San Francisco, London, Boulder, and Western Australia
Following more than 80 productions around the world, Dead Man Walking will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a return to the War Memorial stage where it premiered, at San Francisco Opera. Across the globe, Freeze Frame Opera gives the work its Western Australia premiere, while Eklund Opera at the University of Colorado Boulder, the first university to perform Dead Man Walking in 2007, presents two performances in Macky Auditorium. Later this fall, English National Opera will present the work’s first fully staged London performances.
INTELLIGENCE
World Premiere Recording and New Production at Virginia Opera
Heggie’s opera Intelligence is based on the little-known true story of two women – one formerly enslaved, one a Southern woman of privilege – who infiltrated the Confederate White House and ran a Union spy ring during the American Civil War. On August 29, 2025, Intelligence will be released as a world premiere recording on the LSO Live label – the first album in the label’s new partnership with Houston Grand Opera. Intelligence will also receive a new production at Virginia Opera, with performances across the state in Norfolk, Fairfax, and Richmond – the very city in which the opera’s story unfolds.
SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
Heggie Joins SFCM Faculty as Distinguished Professor of Composition in Fall 2025
This fall marks a new step toward legacy-building, as Heggie has accepted a faculty role at San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the Diane B. Wilsey Distinguished Professor of Composition. Education and mentorship have figured prominently in Heggie’s life and career – he has found it especially meaningful to nurture and guide composers, singers, and pianists through artist residences and masterclasses. The SFCM appointment follows a decade of work at the conservatory, including an honorary doctorate in 2023.
ADDITIONAL PREMIERES & COLLABORATIONS
Good Morning, Beauty
Song Cycle Co-Commissioned by Classical Pride, LA Philharmonic, and Cabrillo Festival
Heggie has re-teamed with acclaimed drag artist and activist Taylor Mac to create the song cycle Good Morning, Beauty, a collection of romantic and humorous songs that explore the realities of being queer in a long-term relationship. Co-commissioned by Classical Pride London, LA Philharmonic, and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the work will be performed in various iterations by each commissioner this summer.
The Elements
Concerto Commissioned by Joshua Bell • Spring 2026 Tour • Canadian Premiere
Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell commissioned five renowned American composers – Jake Heggie, Jennifer Higdon, Edgar Meyer, Jessie Montgomery, and Kevin Puts – to create The Elements, based on the five Elements that form the basis of traditional Chinese medicine: Fire, Air, Water, Ether, and Earth, respectively. Bell performs the work with Naples Philharmonic in Florida, before giving the work its Canadian premiere with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, followed by performances with Houston Symphony.
EARTH: A Choral Symphony
World Premiere with Madison Symphony Orchestra
In celebration of its 100th anniversary, Madison Symphony Orchestra has commissioned Heggie and longtime collaborator Gene Scheer to create EARTH: A Choral Symphony. Structured in four movements, the work explores the miracle of our planet and its precarious relationship to humanity. John DeMain conducts the world premiere with soprano Ailyn Pérez and three choruses in Madison Symphony’s centennial season finale at Overture Hall.