Jake Heggie

Animal Passion

Although he was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, composer and pianist Jake Heggie (b. 1961) was raised in Ohio and California, spent some time studying in Paris, and now lives in San Francisco. As Composer in Residence with the San Francisco Opera, he wrote and premiered his most famous composition, Dead Man Walking (1998-2000), which this year [2007] alone has had 50 performances scheduled around the globe. Other operas include The End of the Affair (2003-05), and To Hell and Back (2006), with more opera commissions from Houston, Dallas, San Francisco and The Metropolitan in the works.

Heggie’s output also includes over 200 songs, and as an accompanist he performs with some of the leading singers around, including Frederica Von Stade, Renee Fleming, Dawn Upshaw and Thomas Hampson. Animal Passion is the second song from his 1997 cycle, Natural Selection, with lyrics by the contemporary California poet Gini Savage.

--Intermezzo Sunday Concerts, November 18, 2007 (Bella Voce Cabaret)