Opera Parallele Will Celebrate 15th Anniversary and Jake Heggie

Opera Parallèle has announced the details about the company's upcoming benefit evening, In Pursuit of a Dream: A 15th Anniversary Celebration Honoring Composer Jake Heggie, set for Thursday, March 27 at the elegant City Club of San Francisco.

Joining the festivities will be legendary mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham and Frederica von Stade, along with other artists, who will perform a program of musical selections sure to create a memorable evening celebrating Opera Parallèle 15th Anniversary Season and innovative spirit, while lauding the remarkable achievements of Jake Heggie, the recipient of the highly prestigious Musical America 2025 Award as Composer of the Year.

The not-to-be-missed benefit soirée will begin at 6 p.m. with a welcome champagne reception led by company founder, French-Canadian conductor and Opera Parallèle Artistic & General Director Nicole Paiement, offering guests a perfect opportunity to mingle and toast the occasion, before heading into the graceful City Club Dining Room for a sumptuous seated four-course dinner.

In producing this extraordinary event honoring the significant contributions of both the company and Jake Heggie, Opera Parallèle extends its deepest gratitude to Honorary Chairs Gordon P. Getty and Diane B. Wilsey for their outstanding leadership and generous support. They are joined by Celebration Co-chairs Nancy Petrisko and Robert Ripps, along with benefit committee members Malekeh Amini, Jane Hartley, Marcia Lazer, Peggy Otum, and Jee Young You. The City Club of San Francisco is located at 155 Sansome Street.

Tickets for the benefit celebration are $350 per person with sponsorship opportunities ranging from $1,000 to $25,000; tickets will be available starting Jan. 24 online: https://operaparallele.org/benefit. Proceeds support Opera Parallèle's 15th anniversary season, educational outreach programs, and ongoing efforts to bring transformative opera experiences to diverse audiences.

In Pursuit of a Dream reaffirms Opera Parallèle's commitment to bold innovative storytelling on the lyric theater stage and its dedication to fostering a vibrant and inclusive operatic community. By honoring Jake Heggie—an artist whose works have profoundly influenced contemporary opera—the event underscores the company's mission to champion modern voices and visionary creators, and has included the presentation of Heggie's groundbreaking work, Dead Man Walking and his one-act opera, At the Statue of Venus, both operas set to librettos by famed writer Terrence McNally.

The month of March will be a particularly active time for the prolific Heggie, who, in addition to being honored by Opera Parallèle, will oversee the launch of a new production of his acclaimed opera, Moby-Dick, at the New York Metropolitan Opera, in addition to being inducted into the OPERA America Hall of Fame on March 7.

Jake Heggie's career began in 2000 at San Francisco Opera with the commissioned opera Dead Man Walking, an opera that to date has enjoyed more than 70 productions worldwide and is the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years. Heggie's ten full-length operas include his recently premiered Intelligence, It's a Wonderful Life, Great Scott, and Three Decembers; numerous one-act operas in addition to 300 art songs, chamber music, choral, and orchestral works. Recent and upcoming projects include the World Premiere of Earth 2.0 commissioned by the Fort Worth Symphony and conductor Robert Spano in collaboration with the Urban Bush Women; Margaret Atwood's Songs for Murdered Sisters with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Carnegie Hall; and a new commission for rising star countertenor, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen with performances at Carnegie Hall, Houston and Washington, D.C.

As part of the 2024-25 season, Opera Parallèle will present the World Premiere of The Pigeon Keeper by composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, March 7-9 at the Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. The production features singers Angela Yam, and the company debuts of Bernard Holcomb and Craig Irvin, in addition to the participation of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Nicole Paiement will be on the podium in a production directed by Brian Staufenbiel.

Later this spring, Opera Parallèle will give the highly anticipated Bay Area debut of Harvey Milk Reimagined by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie, May 31-June 7 at the Blue Shield of California Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Presented on the eve of San Francisco's Pride Celebration month, the newly revised opera in two acts will feature the company premiere of singers Michael Kelly, Joshua Dennis and Henry Benson, with members of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Nicole Paiement will helm the musical forces in this new production created and directed by Brian Staufenbiel.

Recent recognition for Opera Parallèle includes OPERA America's 2024 Award for Digital Excellence in Opera Noteworthy Projects for the company's highly innovative Everest: An Immersive Experience. The company's pioneering work was recognized with the San Francisco Classical Voice 2023 Audience Choice Award as “Best New Music Ensemble.” For more information and to buy performance tickets, visit www.operaparallele.org.

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