Fresh off the heels of his GRAMMY win for Intelligence, SFCM's Diane B. Wilsey Distinguished Professor of Composition, Jake Heggie, premiered The Judgement of Paris to a sold-out audience at Festival Napa Valley in July.

The one-act opera focuses on The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 (and takes its title from another colloquial nickname for the tasting), a wine competition organized by British wine merchant Steven Spurrier to capitalize on the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations. In what's become the stuff of legend, California white wines took three of the top four spots in that category, while a 1973 California Cabernet took the top spot in the red wine category.

Jake Heggie's 'The Judgement of Paris' at Festival Napa Valley.

The upset was, to put it mildly, a debacle: Spurrier admitted to Business Week in 2001 that "I thought I had it rigged for the French wines to win," and the outraged French judges banned him from a year's worth of events over the embarrassment. The moment is still thought of as the point at which American wines gained legitimacy on the international stage and propelled the California wine industry to new heights.

'The Judgement of Paris' at Festival Napa Valley.

Nicholas Phan.

Much like Intelligence, The Judgement of Paris was workshopped at SFCM with three nights of readings with students, including '25 Voice grad Morgan Wolfe, who covered the role of Odette and sang in the opera's chorus. "It's been very inspiring and energizing to be here this week," Heggie said after a performance. "I want to thank the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for providing the space and the opportunity and for being the magical place that it is for learning, for experience, and for connection. It really is extraordinary."

Heggie's regular librettist Gene Scheer crafted a narrative that pits the Greek gods Bacchus and Venus against each other in a debate of tradition vs. innovation, which then leaps forward to the titular event. GRAMMY-winning tenor Nicholas Phan, represented by SFCM's partner company Opus 3 Artists, performed the role of Spurrier.

Morgan Wolfe.

Heggie joined SFCM in 2025 and hit the ground running, offering students first-hand glimpses at the San Francisco Opera's current staging of his Dead Man Walking—including face time with its stars—and holding masterclasses with Voice students.

Earlier in 2026, Heggie explained that workshopping Intelligence at SFCM was crucial to the development of the opera: "We had an audience, people from Houston, people from here, donors and other people involved in the creation of the opera, an amazing cast … but we didn't have the ending right. We found out in that workshop and in front of that audience that we needed a new ending. And that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't had the workshop here."

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