Jake Heggie News

Pittsburgh Opera announces its 2017-18 season, the company's 79th. The season continues Pittsburgh Opera's tradition of performing world-class productions from old favorites to exciting new works.

The San Francisco Symphony (SFS) honors John Adams's 70th birthday in a special three-weekend celebration of his music, February 10-25.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Lahav Shani, in his Pittsburgh debut, perform landmark works honoring the city of New York by some of America's most celebrated composers during the BNY Mellon Grand Classics weekend, "Rhapsody in Blue," on February 24-26 at Heinz Hall.

 Florida Grand Opera (FGO) and Steinway Piano Gallery Miami are pleased to present acclaimed soprano Diana Soviero in a masterclass on Saturday, February 18 at 7:30 pm in Steinway Piano Gallery Miami in Coral Gables.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2016-2017 season with the company premieres of two modern American masterworks of opera: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's Dead Man Walking, February 25-March 11, 2017 in the Opera House, and Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer's Champion, March 4- 18, 2017 in the Opera House. Both operas explore the theme of social justice which is often associated with John F. Kennedy and are presented as part of JFKC, the Kennedy Center's season-long celebration of President Kennedy's centennial. Using many of the same designers and scenic elements, the directors of each opera have worked collaboratively to create two distinct worlds in each new production to showcase the issues of Justice, Courage, and Freedom at the heart of these two compelling stories. An additional special event will continue the exploration of these themes: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will headline Justice at the Opera on Thursday, March 9, 2017 in the Opera House.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 59th season with the powerful modern classic, Dead Man Walking, music by Jake Heggie and libretto by Terrence McNally, and based on the novel by Sister Helen Prejean, with performances March 4, 8, 10 and 12 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in English with English titles.

Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) announced today the names of the eight composer and librettist teams whose unpublished works have been selected for the company's fifth annual, critically acclaimed new works series, Frontiers - funded in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The busy mezzo has even sung the National Anthem at a Pirates-Braves game

The inaugural Explorations series continues with Elvis Costello's The Juliet Letters, Jan. 28 and 29 at the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building at the Richard J. Stern Opera Center.Explorations features eclectic programs in intimate spaces, with programming that crosses musical borders and experiments with a wide range of lyrical expression.

The Dallas Opera is proud to announce its ambitious 2017-2018 Season, "Motives Unmasked!" consisting of five entertaining and varied mainstage productions, including a dazzling U.S. premiere and a new Dallas Opera production of a very early opera by Viennese wunderkind Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Palm Beach Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly for one weekend only, January 27-29, at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. One of the most popular operas in the repertoire, Madama Butterfly is filled with recognizable melodies and passionate drama.

The Houston Symphony and Music Director Andres Orozco-Estrada announced today details of the 2017-18 season, which marks Orozco-Estrada's fourth year as music director. Highlights of the season include the appointment of Peruvian-born composer Jimmy Lopez as the Houston Symphony's new Composer-in-Residence and the introduction of Ars Electronica Futurelab's musical visualization of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, an immersive concert experience directed by acclaimed choreographer Klaus Obermaier

After years of development, the world premiere of Riders of the Purple Sage, a new opera based on Zane Grey's Western novel of the same name will be unveiled in Phoenix and Tucson.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) and Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center present InsightALT: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant on March 26, 2017 at 3pm, 129 W. 67th Street, NYC.

The inaugural Explorations series continues with Elvis Costello's The Juliet Letters, Jan. 28 and 29 at the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building at the Richard J. Stern Opera Center.Explorations features eclectic programs in intimate spaces, with programming that crosses musical borders and experiments with a wide range of lyrical expression.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the world premiere of Some Light Emerges, a chamber opera created by the acclaimed team of composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, on March 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m., at the Ballroom at Bayou Place.

Palm Beach Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly for one weekend only, January 27-29, at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. One of the most popular operas in the repertoire, Madama Butterfly is filled with recognizable melodies and passionate drama.

Houston Grand Opera expands its commitment to broadening the audience for opera with a 2017-18 season that includes the first presentations of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story by a major American opera house and the world premiere of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek's holiday opera The House without a Christmas Tree. HGO will present its first performances in a quarter century of two iconic works: Richard Strauss's revenge-filled Elektra with virtuoso sopranoChristine Goerke in the tempestuous title role and 2016 Richard Tucker Award-winner and HGO Studio alumna Tamara Wilson in her role debut as Chrysothemis, under the baton of HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers; and Bellini's grand-scale tragedy Norma showcasing the debut of stellar dramatic soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in the notoriously difficult title role, with 2015 Tucker winner and HGO Studio alumna Jamie Barton as Adalgisa.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) in partnership with MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), presents The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turingon on January 12, 2017 at 7:30pm in the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 W 67th Street, New York City.

On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 7:30pm, Works & Process at the Guggenheim offers a behind-the-scenes look at WAR PAINT, the new musical by librettist Doug Wright, composer Scott Frankel, lyricist Michael Korie, and director Michael Greif in advance of the Broadway opening on April 6, 2017.