Jake Heggie

The American composer Jake Heggie has been among the most successful creators of opera on the contemporary American scene, with subject matter including Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean's book on capital punishment, and the Herman Melville novel Moby Dick. The composer of nine operas, produced on five continents, Heggie has also written choral music, chamber music, songs (more than 300), and orchestral works. Heggie was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 31, 1961, but grew up mostly in Columbus, Ohio. He began writing music after the suicide of his father, a doct...