Michel van der Aa

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.

Passage (2004), a short film by van der Aa, has been shown at several international festivals and has been aired on Dutch national television.

He has collaborated with choreographers such as Kazuko Hirabayashi, Philippe Blanchard, Ben Wright and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.

Van der Aa's 3D film-opera Sunken Garden, a collaboration with David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas,[10] was a joint commission from English National Opera, Barbican Centre, Toronto Luminato Festival, Opéra National de Lyon, and the Holland Festival.

It was given its première by English National Opera conducted by André de Ridder at the Barbican Centre, London, on 12 April 2013,[11] with Roderick Williams in the role of Toby.