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11 March 2024

Michel van der Aa’s latest music theatre work The Book of Water will will mark its German premiere on March 21 at the Kölner Philharmonie. The performance stars actor Samuel West and a string quartet from Ensemble Modern, with actor Timothy West and soprano Mary Bevan on film.

The Book of Water had its acclaimed world premiere September 2022 at the Venice Biennale. Peter Krausse, writing in Opernwelt, described the piece as ‘Ein Genialisches Gesamtkunstwerk’, and The Guardian’s Andrew Clements wrote ‘Typically elegant and thoughtful music theatre work…the integration of the live and the recorded is immaculate, the cinematography coolly elegant’.

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Featured works

The Book of Water

Chamber music theatre (2021-2022)

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Film opera (2019-2020)

Eight

Virtual reality installation (2018-2019)

Violin Concerto

for solo violin and orchestra (2014)

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Chamber opera (2015-2016)

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for solo cello, string ensemble and film (2010)

Michel van der Aa is a truly multidisciplinary figure in contemporary music. A unique voice, he combines composition with film and stage direction, and script writing. Classical instruments, voices, electronic sound, actors, theatre and video are all seamless extensions of his musical vocabulary.

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Performances

21 March 2024

The Book of Water (German premiere)

Samuel West, actor. Ensemble Modern. Timothy West, actor (film), Mary Bevan, soprano (film)

Kölner Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany
10 May 2024

Mask

New York Philharmonic, Kwamé Ryan

Lincoln Center (Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall), New York, U.S.A.
2 December 2024

From Dust (world premiere)

Virtual Reality opera installation. Sjaella.
VR-Days / Immersive Tech Week

De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands

All performances