Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers
An intimate chamber opera of family, memory, and reconciliation
February 19 & 20, 2027 — 7:30pm
February 21, 2027 — 2:00pm
Dezart Performs Playhouse, Palm Springs
What is Three Decembers about?
The Palm Springs Opera Guild proudly presents Jake Heggie’s acclaimed chamber opera Three Decembers, an intimate and deeply moving portrait of family, memory, and the ties that bind us across time.
Presented at the Dezart Performs Playhouse in Palm Springs, this powerful contemporary opera follows celebrated stage actress Madeline Mitchell and her two adult children over the course of three Christmases spanning nearly two decades. As long-held secrets emerge and old wounds resurface, the family must confront the distance between the lives they have lived and the lives they imagined.
With a richly expressive score by acclaimed American composer Jake Heggie and a poignant libretto by Gene Scheer, Three Decembers explores love, loss, forgiveness, and reconciliation with warmth, honesty, and extraordinary emotional depth. Adapted from the unpublished play Some Christmas Letters by Terrence McNally, the opera has become one of the most frequently performed chamber operas of the 21st century, celebrated for its compelling storytelling and beautifully crafted music.
The intimate setting of the Dezart Performs Playhouse offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience this extraordinary work up close, where every nuance of the music and every emotional revelation resonate with remarkable immediacy.
Join the Palm Springs Opera Guild for an unforgettable evening of contemporary American opera that celebrates the complexity of family, the resilience of the human spirit, and the enduring power of music to tell our most personal stories.
