Michel van der Aa

Michel van der Aa studied at Royal Conservatory of The Hague and New York Film Academy. The recorded working language is Dutch. The field of work recorded is opera, concerto and ballet. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are contemporary classical. Works named in the authority record are After life, One and Up-close. Distinctions recorded are Gaudeamus International Composers Award, Paul Hindemith Prize, Johannes Vermeer Award and Matthijs Vermeulen Award.

Michel van der Aa was born 10 March 1970 in Oss. He trained as a recording engineer at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and studied composition with Diderik Wagenaar, Gilius van Bergeijk, and Louis Andriessen.

The music of van der Aa has been performed by ensembles and orchestras internationally. Those include the Asko|Schönberg ensemble, Freiburger Barockorchester, Ensemble Modern, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Dutch National Opera, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Seattle Chamber Players, Ensemble Nomad Tokyo, musikFabrik, Continuum Ensemble Toronto, Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Orchestras, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Sweden, and the Helsinki Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. He completed a short program in film directing at the New York Film Academy in 2002. He also participated in the Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab, a short, intensive course in stage direction in 2007. Michel van der Aa's music theatre works, including the chamber opera One (2002), the opera After Life (2006, Amsterdam) and the music theatre work The Book of Disquiet, have received international critical praise. The innovative aspect of these operas is their use of film images and sampled soundtracks as an essential element of the score. He directed the television production of One for the Dutch national broadcasting company NPS. Passage (2004), a short film by van der Aa, has been shown at several international festivals and has been aired on Dutch national television. He has been a featured artist at the Perth Tura New Music Festival and Holland Festival. He has collaborated with choreographers such as Kazuko Hirabayashi, Philippe Blanchard, Ben Wright and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.

Van der Aa's 3D film-opera Sunken Garden, a collaboration with David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, was a joint commission from English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Toronto Luminato Festival, Opéra National de Lyon, and the Holland Festival. It was given its première by English National Opera conducted by André de Ridder at the Barbican Centre, London, on 12 April 2013, with Roderick Williams in the role of Toby. His music is recorded on the Harmonia Mundi, Col Legno, Composers' Voice, BVHaast, and VPRO Eigenwijs labels, as well as his own label Disquiet Media.

Vuur (2001), opera, for solo voice, actors, singers, ensemble and soundtrack One (2002), chamber opera, for soprano, soundtrack and film libretto by the composer After Life (2005–06), opera, for six solo voices, ensemble, soundtrack, and film libretto by the composer, after Hirokazu Kore-Eda The Book of Disquiet (2008), music theatre, for actor, ensemble, soundtrack and film libretto after Fernando Pessoa, adapted by the composer Sunken Garden (2011–12), opera, for three singers, ensemble, soundtrack, and film libretto by David Mitchell Blank Out (2015–16), chamber opera, for soprano, baritone (film), choir (film) and 3D film Eight (2018–19), virtual reality installation, for mezzo-soprano, soprano, choir, soundtrack, VR Upload (2021, Bregenzer Festspiele), music and libretto by van der Aa, for soprano, baritone, small orchestra, film projection, motion capture The Book of Water (2021–22), chamber music theatre, for two actors, soprano, string quartet, film and soundtrack based on the 1979 novel Man in the Holocene by Max Frisch, adapted by the composer and Madelon Kooijman

See-Through (2000), for orchestra Here [to be found] (2001), for soprano, chamber orchestra, and soundtrack Here [enclosed] (2003), for chamber orchestra and soundtrack Second Self (2004), for orchestra and soundtrack Imprint (2005), for Baroque orchestra Spaces of Blank (2007), song cycle for mezzo-soprano, orchestra and soundtrack Violin Concerto (2014) for violin and orchestra

Span (1996), for ensemble and soundtrack Between (1997), for percussion quartet and soundtrack Above (1999), for ensemble and soundtrack Attach (1999–2000), for ensemble and soundtrack Here [in circles] (2002), for soprano (with small cassette player) and ensemble Mask (2006), for ensemble and soundtrack Up-Close (2010), concerto for solo cello, strings ensemble/orchestra, soundtrack and film

Auburn (1994), for guitar (classical or electric) and soundtrack Oog (1995), for cello and soundtrack Double (1997), for violin and piano Quadrivial (1997), for flute, violin, cello, and prepared piano Solo (1997), for percussion solo Wake (1997), for percussion duo Caprce (1999), for violin solo Just Before (1999), for piano and soundtrack Memo (2003), for violin and portable cassette recorder Transit (2009), for piano and film Rekindle (2009), for flute and soundtrack And how are we today? (2012), for mezzo-soprano, piano, and double bass Miles Away (2012), for mezzo-soprano, violin, piano and double bass

Writing to Vermeer (1999), opera by Louis Andriessen and Peter Greenaway, with the thirteen electronic music inserts (which accompany a corresponding film projection) composed by van der Aa. The Book of Sand (2015), digital interactive song cycle, based on Jorge Luis Borges' short story "The Book of Sand", with Kate Miller-Heidke Time Falling (2020), album in collaboration with Kate Miller-Heidke