Nina’s social media project The Snake Said to the River is a celebration of the natural world, mysticism, folkway, and music. As The Snake Said to the River, Nina performs folk, historical, and original music on voice and harp; recites stories and poems; and provides offerings on mysticism, plant identification, folkways, and history. Join her on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

 Nina’s work as an experimental musician and improvisor is guided by the continual unearthing of the voice’s extended abilities, and curiosity about the voice’s role in human expression and our interaction with the natural world throughout time. She is co-founder and co-manager of the new music ensemble Fonema Consort, which performs lush new music for voice and ensemble, with a special focus on the music of Latin American composers.

Hailed for her “amazing performance of vocal versatility by a uniquely gifted young artist” (Chicago Classical Review), Dante has performed at/for the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival, Long Beach Opera, Resonant Bodies Festival, BAM, Lampo, Issue Project Room, Roulette, the Kitchen, National Sawdust, the University of Chicago’s Contempo, the Mexican Cultural Institute, Performa, Indexical, Visiones Sonoras, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporaneo, the Experimental Sound Studio, the 113 New Music Festival, New Music Miami, the Latino Music Festival, the Frequency Festival, Festival Interfaz, the Poetry Foundation, and the Renaissance Society, among others.

Dante is co-founder, co-director and soprano of the avant garde chamber ensemble Fonema Consort, which has a special focus on presenting innovative new works for the voice in a chamber setting, and on presenting the works of Latin American composers. Her recordings with Fonema can be found on New Focus Recordings and Parlour Tapes+.

With Fonema and as a soloist, Dante has given been in residence and given performances at Oberlin Conservatory, Columbia University, Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, Scripps College, UNAM, the 113 Composers Collective, and New England Conservatory, among others.

Dante graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance. She is a classically trained vocalist and pianist, and a folk harpist. She offers private virtual lessons in voice, piano, and Celtic/lever/folk harp. With over a decade of teaching experience, Dante believes that joy, curiosity, and expansive expression are at the heart of music-learning.