Jake Heggie was born in West Palm Beach, Florida and has made his home in San Francisco since 1993. Heggie has been drawn to topics that reflect his passion for human rights and social justice (as well as his love of literature), and his operas have been acclaimed for their emotional honesty and dramatic power. Those operas include Moby-Dick (libretto by Gene Scheer), The End of the Affair (libretto by Heather McDonald), and Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally). They have been performed on five continents, and by more than a dozen American opera companies that include San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, and Madison Opera. Heggie’s Great Scott, commissioned by Dallas Opera with story and libretto by McNally, will have its première in October 2015. He has written more than 250 songs, as well as orchestral, choral and chamber music. Farewell, Auschwitz is Heggie’s third MOR commission, following For a Look or a Touch (2007) and Another Sunrise (2012), both with libretti by Scheer. Recordings of Heggie’s compositions include here/after (PentaTone Classics), At The Statue of Venus (GPR), PASSING BY: Songs by Jake Heggie (Avie), Dead Man Walking (Virgin Classics), Three Decembers (Albany), Flesh and Stone (Americus), To Hell and Back (Magnatune), The Faces of Love (RCA Red Seal), The Deepest Desire (Kansas City Symphony), and For a Look or a Touch (Naxos 8.559379).