THE DALLAS OPERA IS PROUD TO PRESENT
European Composer/Technologist Michel van der Aa
and The Dallas Opera’s General Director and CEO Keith Cerny in
COMPOSING CONVERSATIONS
Thursday, November 17, 6:30 p.m.
Studio Movie Grill – Dallas, Royal Lane
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An Extraordinary Conversation and a Kaleidoscopic Taste of the Composer’s Approach to Musical Storytelling
To RSVP or For More Information Visit www.dallasopera.org/composing
DALLAS, TX, NOVEMBER 11, 2016 – For an insightful window into the innovative approach of pioneering European composer and technologist Michel van der Aa, The Dallas Opera invites the public to a free event “Composing Conversations.” Keith Cerny, the Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO of The Dallas Opera, will present the extraordinary discussion, where audiences can also expect an exciting announcement regarding a new collaboration with the composer.
The intimate setting of the Studio Movie Grill, 11170 N. Central Expressway, (Dallas location, near Royal Lane) is the location for this unique program on Thursday, November 17, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.; seating is general admission.
Michel van der Aa is known for combining musical theater and multimedia in often-astonishing ways, as demonstrated in excerpts from his critically acclaimed Sunken Garden, The Book of Sand, and Black Out (which premiered in this year’s Forward Festival, presented by Dutch National Opera).
He has been described as “one of the most distinctive of the younger composers in Europe today. His ability to fuse music, text and visual images into a totally organic whole, sets him apart from nearly all his contemporaries.” (Andrew Clements, The Guardian)
Composing Conversations is an ongoing discussions series featuring some of the most noteworthy international composers. The Dallas Opera presents this programming to showcase all types of opera composers, from grand opera to chamber. This series is intended to introduce some of these great talents to the public and to potentially ignite interest in new operatic works.
Studio Movie Grill offers friendly service at the push of a button and patrons may order and purchase selections from its American Grill Menu. Over 60 premium spirits are available at the bar.
BIOGRAPHY – Michel van der Aa
Michel van der Aa (Netherlands, 1970) 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.
Before studying composition (with Diderik Wagenaar, Gilius van Bergeijk and Louis Andriessen), Van der Aa trained first as a recording engineer at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In 2002 he broadened his skills with studies in film direction, at the New York Film Academy, and in 2007 he participated in the Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab, an intensive course in stage direction.
Van der Aa’s musical materials are hard to tease apart, constantly switching between stasis and high energy, concrete and abstract, acoustic and electronic, ‘pure’ and processed, brand new and half-remembered. Many of them are as visual as they are aural. The possibilities of digital and audio- visual technology often feature, not as a surface gloss to his work but at the core of his artistic outlook.
For more information, visit www.dallasopera.org/composing or consult the friendly staff in the Ticket Office at 214-443-1000.
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