Outpourings of Eternal Harmony

Outpourings of Eternal Harmony is a three-day residency featuring Sir James MacMillan, one of the most significant living composers of sacred and symphonic music. A Catholic composer deeply formed by liturgical music, Scottish folklore, and modernist technique, MacMillan’s work embodies tension without fragmentation and transcendence without abstraction.

The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture and Sacred Music at Notre Dame bring MacMillan to campus for a public concert of his work performed by Notre Dame student ensembles and professional collaborators, a student masterclass, and a public dialogue on the vocation of the artist and the role of beauty in a fractured age.

Credits

Sir James MacMillan

Sir James MacMillan is one of today’s most successful composers, performing internationally as a conductor. His musical language, distinctive for its rhythmic excitement and powerful emotional communication, is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience, and close connection with Celtic folk music.

MacMillan first became internationally recognised after the extraordinary success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the BBC Proms in 1990. His prolific output has since been performed and broadcast around the world. His major works include percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which has received close to 500 performances, a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich, and five symphonies.

Sir James MacMillan

Notre Dame’s de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture

The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is committed to sharing the richness of the Catholic moral intellectual, and aesthetic tradition through teaching, research, and public engagement, at the highest level and across a range of disciplines—both on campus at the University of Notre Dame, and as Notre Dame in the public square. Through its research and publications, student formation programming, mission stewardship, and initiatives to support a culture of life the de Nicola Center strengthens Notre Dame’s Catholic character on campus and brings the University’s voice into the public discussion of the most vital issues of our day.

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Sacred Music at Notre Dame

Sacred Music at Notre Dame (SMND) is a community of faculty, students, and staff who are committed to the training of the future music leaders of our churches, concert halls, and schools and universities. SMND is an interdisciplinary and ecumenical research and teaching program with a Roman Catholic core. The graduate program includes the Master of Sacred Music degree with specializations in Organ, Voice, and Choral Conducting, and the Calvin M. Bower Doctor of Musical Arts Program, offering the DMA degree in Organ or Choral Conducting performance.

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Funding & Support

This is a partner program of the 2027 Notre Dame Arts Biennial, supported with funding from the Notre Dame Arts Initiative.

This project is also made possible with funding and support from the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, Sacred Music at Notre Dame, McGrath Institute for Church Life, Campus Ministry, and Program of Liberal Studies.

Venue staffing support provided by DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.