Earth 2.0 • Press Coverage
Critical Acclaim
“The orchestral writing is an expressive mélange of sounds and styles. Wind twitters evoke songbirds, but dissonant, stabbing dance music suggests forests of concrete rising beneath their flights; a suggestion of a spiritual supplies refuge. A sultry, bluesy trumpet solo represents Earth’s evolving artistry. Orchestral wreathings wrap around a wish for human care — and imagined extraplanetary adventures. To a flute solo, words recall birds’ evolution from dinosaurs and their function as pollinators. ‘The Admirer’ celebrates human bodies in jazzy music. Heggie effectively exploited Murrah’s powerful countertenor voice and vivid delivery, with blazing high notes in soprano range.”
Dallas Morning News
“Heggie brought the awesome communicative power of music to reiterate increasingly disastrous predictions about global warming. Maybe delivering this dire warning with such effective musical postage will change a mind or two. It just might. That is because Heggie’s work, really a concert opera, displays his absolute mastery of musical dramatic delivery. Earth 2.0 sports a variety of musical influences from modernism to Broadway, with stops at folk, jazz, and the blues along the way. Murrah’s cri du coeur of ‘Cleanse Me’ at the opera’s climatic moment was unforgettable. Two dancers writhed in tortuous motions – perhaps they are us, suffering in the extreme heat, hurricanes, catastrophic floods, and uncontrollable wildfires we have foisted on ourselves. The audience was captured by Earth 2.0 and were all given a well-deserved ovation.”
EarRelevant
“Heggie’s music introduces us to Mother Earth through the otherworldly sound of countertenor Key’mon Murrah and distinctive orchestral manifestations of birds, Earth’s glorious range of colors and its capacity to adapt. Heggie’s music takes advantage of Murrah’s ability to sail high with beauty and agility. A striking aspect are the jazz idioms incorporated into a classical frame with so much polish that it just felt natural. Heggie’s highly-approachable style and talent for orchestration made for a delicious setting that got a well-deserved standing ovation.”
Aspen Times