Dead Man Walking Opera Previews

Friday, September 12th, 2025 at 6pm PDT

This SPECIAL 60-minute virtual conversation between composer Jake Heggie Dramaturg Emeritus Clifford "Kip" Cranna will be presented via Zoom webinar, which can be accessed through Eventbrite. The same registration link can be used to stream the special conversation's recording through September 28th, 2025 (the run of the production).

Jake Heggie is best known for Dead Man Walking, the most widely performed new opera of the last 25 years. With a libretto by Terrence McNally, it has been mounted by major theaters in more than 80 international productions. His critically acclaimed operas Moby-Dick, Three Decembers, and It’s a Wonderful Life, with libretti by Gene Scheer, have also established themselves in the classical canon. Heggie’s 10 full-length operas, numerous one-acts, and more than 300 art songs have been performed on five continents. Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer,” Heggie actively seeks out projects that invite a wide range of perspectives. Recent examples include Intelligence, based on the true story of women who infiltrated the Confederate White House, and Songs for Murdered Sisters, his collaboration with Margaret Atwood, created in response to the global epidemic of gender-based violence and nominated for Classical Album of the Year at the Juno Awards. Heggie has longstanding creative partnerships with mezzos Frederica von Stade, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, and Jamie Barton, whose Heggie project Unexpected Shadows earned a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Heggie continues to write all his work by hand, believing that a visceral, physical connection to the score is an essential part of composition.

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Monday, September 8th, 2025 at 12pm

Location: Guzman Hall, Dominican University, 50 Acacia Avenue, San Rafael. 

For more information, contact Marin Chapter President Peggy Hill at peggyhill@yahoo.com. 

Monday, September 9th, 2025 at 4pm

Location: St Patrick's Episcopal Church, 9000 Sonoma Hwy, Kenwood, CA 95452.

For more information, contact Sonoma Chapter President Neva Turer at nejo@aol.com.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2025 at 10am

Location: Addison-Penzak JCC Silicon Valley, 14855 Oka Road, Suite 201, Los Gatos. Free to San Jose Opera Guild and Addison-Penzak JCC members, $10 for general public. Admission payable only at the door; please email president@sjoperaguild.org for reservations.

For more information, contact San Jose Opera Guild President Steve Zilles at steve@zilles.org.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2025 at 2pm

Location: Embarcadero Room, Rinconada Library, 1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto. Free admission and no tickets or reservations are necessary.

For more information, contact Peninsula Chapter President Judy Kahn at judith.kahn@comcast.net.

Wednesday, September 10th, 2025 at 7:30pm

Location: Our Savior's Lutheran Church/Creekside Commons, 1035 Carol Ln, Lafayette, CA 94549. $10 per lecture. Admission payable at the door; no tickets or reservations are necessary. Check-in and refreshments at 7pm.

For more information, contact Silvia Lin at (925) 838-9255 or slininalamo@gmail.com.