World premiere of "After Life"

Michel van der Aa's new opera After Life will be performed on June 2 in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, marking the official opening of the Holland Festival 2006.
The opera, commissioned by De Nederlandse Opera and the ASKO ensemble, is based on the film of the same name by the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda. After Life is set at a way station between Earth and Heaven. There, guides have less than a week to help the recently deceased sift through their memories for one defining moment to take with them to Heaven.
The innovative aspect of After Life is its use of film images and sampled soundtracks as an essential element of the score. Staging, film and music are seamlessly interwoven, intensifying Kore-Eda's moving libretto. In addition to composing the music, Van der Aa wrote and directed the film segments and is also stage director for the production.
(Photo: Claron McFadden, Roderick Williams, Yvette Bonner, Karl Dayond, Bert Hornback)

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Musical portrait at Holland Festival

The Holland Festival will feature composer Michel van der Aa in a two-week musical portrait, with four key works being performed in venues throughout Amsterdam. In addition to the world premiere of After Life, the ASKO/Schönberg Ensemble will perform the complete Here Trilogy in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw on June 6 and the chamber opera One returns to Amsterdam for its final performances after a successful eleven-country tour. Michel van der Aa's most recent work, Imprint, will receive its Netherlands premiere on June 3 in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, performed by the renowned Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

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Netherlands premiere of "Imprint"

Since its premiere in August 2005, Michel van der Aa’s Imprint has received public and critical acclaim throughout Europe. Written for the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Imprint is a 14-minute composition for early music chamber ensemble. This virtuoso work, with a solo violin as its focal point, exhibits Van der Aa’s characteristic theatrical elements.

Imprint will be performed during the Holland Festival (June 3) and at the Cologne Konzerthaus (June 4). These performances round off a tour which included the Lucerne Festival, Berlin Festival and Huddersfield Festival. The work will be issued on CD in 2006.

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"Second Self" in Melbourne festival

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will perform Van der Aa's orchestral work Second Self as part of the commemoration of 400 years of bilateral relations between Australia and the Netherlands. The concert will take place on May 15 during the Metropolis Festival in Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre and will be conducted by Brett Dean.

Second Self was released recently on the Col Legno CD label. The piece was selected from the premieres featured at the Donaueschingen Musiktage 2004 and added to the festival's 2004 compilation CD.

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Televised broadcast of "One"

The chamber opera One will be broadcast on June 4 on Dutch national television. This NPS production features the soprano Barbara Hannigan, and was specially adapted for television by composer and director Michel van der Aa. The One broadcast is part of channel 3's afternoon cultural program Arena and will include a live interview with the composer.
(photo: Barbara Hannigan)

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Upcoming concerts

15 May 2006
Second Self
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra cond. Brett Dean
Metropolis Festival, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Australia

2 June 2006
After Life (World première)
The Netherlands Opera, ASKO ensemble cond. Otto Tausk
Holland Festival, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

3 June 2006
Imprint (Dutch première)
Freiburger Barock Orchestra
Holland festival, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

4 June 2006
Imprint
Freiburger Barock Orchestra
Köln concerthall, Germany

4+5 June 2006
After Life
The Netherlands Opera, ASKO ensemble cond. Otto Tausk
Holland Festival, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

6 June 2006
Here Trilogy
ASKO-Schönberg ensemble, cond. Reinbert de Leeuw, soprano Barbara Hannigan
Holland Festival, Amsterdam Concertgebouw

7+8+9 June 2006
After Life
The Netherlands Opera, ASKO ensemble cond. Otto Tausk
Holland Festival, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

13+14+15 June 2006
One
Chamber Opera. Barbara Hannigan, soprano
Holland Festival, Machinegebouw Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam

9 July 2006
Here [in circles]
Remix Ensemble, cond. Reinbert de Leeuw, soprano Barbara Hannigan
Casa da Musica Porto, Portugal

30 July 2006
One
Chamber Opera. Barbara Hannigan, soprano
Rolf Liebermann Studio, Hamburg, Germany

6-15 Sept 2006
Teaching
New Music New Media Course
Aldeburgh UK

11 February 2007
New work
musikFabrik
Broadcasting hall, Köln, Germany

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