(Photo: Matthew Washburn/San Francisco Opera)

San Francisco Opera honored composer Jake Heggie with the San Francisco Opera Medal on Sept. 14, 2025.

The presentation took place following the 25th anniversary premiere performance of “Dead Man Walking.” Matthew Shivlock, the company’s Tad and Dianne Taube General Director, bestowed the famed composer with the award.

“Thank you for welcoming me in and giving me a home in this extraordinary, electric place of possibility… this sacred place of dreams,” Heggie told the audience upon receiving the honor. “Thank you to all of these amazing people on the stage, in the orchestra, the chorus, front of house, back of house, upstage, downstage and everywhere in this building. Most of all I want to thank all of you here today for showing up as a community in the opera house … please keep showing up, bring more people in, bring young people in—there’s room in this magic place for everyone. And we need this community desperately.”

The composer joined the company back in 1994 as a writer in the public relations department. He was composer-in-residence from 1998-2000 and during that time he composed “Dead Man Walking,” his first and, now, most popular opera. The work has gone to receive over 80 international productions. In 2025, Heggie was inducted into the OPERA America Hall of Fame and was named 2025 Composer of the Year by Musical America.

“Dead Man Walking” runs at San Francisco Opera until Sept. 28, 2025.