Michel van der Aa

Michel van der Aa (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌmixəl vɑn dər ˈaː]; born 10 March 1970) is a Dutch composer of contemporary classical music.[1]

In this Dutch name, the family name is van der Aa, not Aa.

Early years

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.

Career

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, De Nederlandse Opera, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, Seattle Chamber Players, Ensemble Nomad Tokyo, musikFabrik, Continuum Ensemble Toronto, SWR Orchestra Baden-Baden & Freiburg, Netherlands Radio Orchestras, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra Sweden, and the Helsinki Avanti Ensemble.[2]

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),[3] the opera After Life (2006, Amsterdam) and the music theatre work The Book of Disquiet, have received international critical praise.[4] The innovative aspect of these operas is their use of film images and sampled soundtracks as an essential element of the score. Staging, film and music are interwoven into a collage of transparent layers, resulting in a work that is part documentary film and part philosophy.

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.[5]

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.[6]

Awards

Van der Aa was recipient of the Gaudeamus International Composers Award in 1999. He also received the prestigious Matthijs Vermeulen Award for One in 2004. He received the Siemens Composers' Prize in 2005. He also received the Charlotte Köhler Prize for his directing work and the interdisciplinary character of his oeuvre in the same year. He was awarded the Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in 2006.

In November 2012 it was announced that van der Aa would be the recipient of the 2013 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition, for his cello concerto Up-Close, a 'highly innovative fusion of musical and visual art'[7] written for Sol Gabetta and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.[8] In 2013 he won the Mauricio Kagel Music Prize.

Recent projects

Van der Aa has recently completed a new 3D film-opera entitled Sunken Garden, in collaboration with David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas,[9] Sunken Garden is a joint commission from English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Toronto Luminato Festival, Opera National de Lyon, and the Holland Festival, and was given its première by English National Opera under André de Ridder at the Barbican Centre, London, on 12 April 2013,[10] with Roderick Williams in the role of Toby.

Forthcoming projects include a clarinet concerto for the London Sinfonietta to be premiered in April 2014 and new pieces for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as part of his long-term partnership with that group,[11] which will include a large orchestral work, a solo concerto, and an evening-length Passion setting for soloists, choir and orchestra, expected to première in 2017.[12]

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.[5]

Works

Opera and music theatre
  • Vuur (2001), opera, for solo voice, actors, singers, ensemble and soundtrack
  • One (2002), chamber opera, for soprano, soundtrack and film
  • 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
  • Sunken Garden (2011–12), opera, for three singers, ensemble, soundtrack and film [13]
  • 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

Orchestra
  • 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

Ensemble
  • 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

Chamber music
  • 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

Dance and film
  • now [in fragments] (1995), for soprano, clarinet, cello and soundtrack
  • Staring at the Space (1995–96), for chamber orchestra
  • Faust (1998), for ensemble and soundtrack
  • The New Math(s) (2000), for soprano, traverso, marimba, violin and soundtrack
  • Solitaire (2003), for violin and soundtrack
    • ballet, commissioned by the Het Nationaal Ballet, Den Bosch

Other
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References
  1. "Michel van der Aa". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  2. "Vanderaa.net: News: World premiere of double concerto 'akin'". www.vanderaa.net. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  3. Picard, Anna (April 1, 2012). "Riccardo Primo, Britten Theatre, London Life Is a Dream, Argyle Works, Birmingham Timberbrit, Bussey Building, London". The Independent. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  4. Clements, Andrew (2016-02-25). "The Book of Disquiet review – a beautifully crafted Van der Aa theatre piece". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  5. Clements, Andrew (2016-03-22). "Van der Aa: Blank Out review – enigmatic but effective and fluent". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  6. "Vanderaa.net : Biography". www.vanderaa.net. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-25. Retrieved 2012-11-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Vanderaa.net : News : Michel van der Aa wins 2013 Grawemeyer Award". www.vanderaa.net.
  9. http://www.intermusica.co.uk/vanderaa#Zela Archived 2010-10-01 at the Wayback Machine Law
  10. Sunken Garden – Vanderaa.net Michel van der Aa website. Accessed 17 September 2014
  11. "Vanderaa.net : Biography". www.vanderaa.net.
  12. "Vanderaa.net : News : Van der Aa residency at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra". vanderaa.net.
  13. "Virtual International Philharmonic". Archived from the original on 2014-05-26.
  14. The Book of Sand Archived 2015-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, Holland Festival 2015
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