"Twenty-five years ago, a new opera titled "Dead Man Walking" made its world premiere in a San Francisco Opera production. Based on the same-titled 1993 memoir by author and activist Sister Helen Prejean, it was an instant sensation - and the start of a brilliant career by composer Jake Heggie. In the years since then, the opera has had more than 80 international productions and become the most performed contemporary opera of the 21st century."
"Heggie, who lives in San Francisco with his husband, Curt Branom, seems almost taken aback by his own success - not just with "Dead Man Walking," but with the dozens of new works including operas, song cycles and other pieces he's composed in recent years. He says he's lucky; at the time "Dead Man Walking" was commissioned, he was working in San Francisco Opera's publicity/marketing department and was yet to be known as an accomplished composer."
Dead Man Walking premiered 25 years ago in a San Francisco Opera production, adapted from Sister Helen Prejean's 1993 memoir and launching composer Jake Heggie's career. The opera has since received more than 80 international productions and become the most performed contemporary opera of the 21st century. San Francisco Opera will present the 25th-anniversary performances Sept. 14–28 at the War Memorial Opera House, conducted by Patrick Summers and featuring some original cast members, longtime collaborators and special events. Heggie, who lives in San Francisco with his husband Curt Branom, describes the return as an astonishing full-circle moment.
Read at The Mercury News
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