Jake Heggie

Jake Heggie (born March 31, 1961) is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.

John ("Jake") Stephen Heggie was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Judith (née: Rohrbach) and John Francis Heggie, the third of four children. His father was a physician and an amateur saxophonist, and his mother was a nurse. Shortly after Heggie's birth, his family relocated to Columbus, Ohio. He began studying piano when he was seven years old.

In 1972, Heggie's father committed suicide after a long battle with depression. Shortly thereafter, Heggie began writing music. A few years after his father's death, the family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Heggie completed high school and continued his studies in piano.

As a teenager, Heggie studied composition privately with Ernst Bacon from 1977 to 1979. After graduating from high school, he spent two years studying at the American College in Paris. He later continued his studies at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where his teachers included Roger Bourland, Paul Des Marais, David Raksin, and Paul Reale, and where he won the Henry Mancini Award in 1987. Heggie graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in 1984 and returned for graduate school from 1986 to 1988.

Heggie's most significant teacher during his studies at UCLA was Johana Harris, widow of composer Roy Harris and widely considered one of the 20th century's finest pianists.

"She was a magnificent teacher, a brilliant artist in every way, and she was nurturing and encouraging," said Heggie in a 2015 interview with Opera News. "She wanted you to have a broad recognition of what the world had to offer in literature, music, art, food, and daily life. She was all about unleashing inspiration, trusting instincts, opening up your heart and soul to possibility. And she saw something in me as an artist and as a composer that I didn't see or recognize in myself."

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