Michel van der Aa
• one of the most outstanding Dutch artists of his generation, he lets audiences enter alternative worlds in a different way: through his inventive musical, cinematic and digital creations
• as a composer, director, and multimedia artist, he brings together various disciplines and leads the classical opera genre into new dimensions
• after training as music recording engineer at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, studied composition with Diderik Wagenaar, Gilius van Bergeijk and Louis Andriessen; completed a course in film directing at the New York Film Academy, and collaborated with film makers Peter Greenaway and Hal Hartley, and with choreographers including Philippe Blanchard
• is programmed at leading festivals for contemporary music, his works being played by many renowned international
• awarded the Gaudeamus Prize (1999), the Vermeulen Prize (2004, for One), a Siemens Grant (2005), the Charlotte Köhler Prize (2005), the Hindemith Prize (2006), the Kagel Prize (2013), the Grawemeyer Award (2013, for Up-close), Johannes Vermeer Prize (2015) and the International Opera Award (2022) for his production Upload. His VR opera From Dust was awarded Best Immersive Work at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2025; van der Aa received the 2025 Grand Prix from the Dutch Directors Guild
• recordings on the Col Legno, Harmonia Mundi, Composer’s Voice, BVHaast, X-OR and VPRO Eigenwijs labels; many of his works are released on Disquiet Media, an independent multimedia label for his own work
• an der Aa’s projects are developed and produced by the doubleA foundation
Works by Michel van der Aa include:
From Dust (2024) Virtual reality opera installation
Upload (2019–20) Film opera
Violin Concerto (2014) for violin and orchestra
Up-close (2010) for solo cello, string ensemble and film
Looking Ahead: virtual reality opera From Dust and other works at November Music festival in Den Bosch (Nov 2026)
“Van der Aa is a master of many media…Rarely have modern techniques and ancient musical virtues coexisted more naturally.” — Alex Ross, The New Yorker
Also visit the Michel van der Aa website at vanderaa.net
