Grace Oberhofer and Ann Noling, BE(A) (2026)

“BE(A), a music theater work for chamber chorus and orchestra, follows an unnamed young artist as she grapples with Dante’s Divine Comedy while reconciling with the experience of being a young woman artist in the pandemic.

As she follows Dante’s path through Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise, she begins to see questions in the crease of each page: What can this epic tale by an exiled political grump teach us about our own period of social and professional exile? When does a beloved piece of art bring comfort, and when does it fall infuriatingly short? She uses the text, Dante’s biography, and her own musical influences – from the Italian classical ‘novecento’ style through to modern punk – to sort through both Dante’s journeys and her own.  She finds that perhaps joy lies not in a linear journey from bad into good, but rather in an embrace of the moments of paradise and community, even in the midst of hell.

Join us for a first look at this work in development written by Grace Oberhofer, co-created by Grace Oberhofer and Ann Noling.”