The International Dante Project is the third of the Interdisciplinary Sacred Music Dramas at Notre Dame, sponsored by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The International Dante project emerges as a co-creative exercise between scholars and artists from Notre Dame, in interaction with an international group of visionary artists and Dante experts.

Under the artistic and musical direction of Professor Carmen-Helena Téllez,  who carries ongoing research in interdisciplinary genres that she calls Kosmologia,  the International Dante Project focuses around the creation of an original interdisciplinary work, JOURNEYING LA DIVINA COMMEDIA: DESERT, DISCOVERY, SONG… with a libretto by celebrated scholar, poet, and translator Robin Kirkpatrick (University of Cambridge); a specially-commissioned oratorio on the Paradiso by composer Robert Kyr (University of Oregon); and interactive soundscapes and sculptural installations by a distinguished  group of artists, led by eminent stage director  Anton Juan.

Among the professionals, student co-creators will contribute their unique artistic and technical work to this complex interdisciplinary venture.

Long regarded as a world-class center for Dante Scholarship,  the Devers Program for Dante Studies at Notre Dame will collaborate with the International Dante Project in a series of  lectures and academic presentations, including its annual series of readings called “Dante Now,” and a special exhibit of precious Dante publications at the Hesburgh Library’s Rare Books Collection.

The International Dante Project is a collaboration of the Sacred Music Program, the Devers Program in Dante Studies, the Department of Film, Television and Theatre, and the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at Notre Dame.