Prof. DelDonna’s research interests include 17th and 18th -century Italian sacred music and opera as well as the compositions of the Second Viennese School. As a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Naples (1996_97), he began to cultivate an interest in the sociological role of opera within Italian society, in particular the notion of the art form as industry and as a vehicle for disseminating political ideology. He has lectured on these topics at conferences in the United States, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the United Kingdom. This research has led to articles published in scholarly journals such as Early Music, Civiltà musicale, Chronicle of the Teatro di San Carlo, Documentary Studies in the History of Music and Spectacle, and a volume of critical studies devoted to the Italian poet Pietro Metastasio. In addition, DelDonna's edition of the sacred opera, Debora e Sisara (by the Neapolitan composer Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi) is published by Art Print Press (Louisville) and funded through grants from Musica Toscana Inc. He is a member of the American Musicological Society, Società italiana di musicologia, Centro per lo studio della musica antica, College Music Society, Society for Eighteen-Century Music and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.