December 2009
World premiere 'Transit'
Sarah Nicolls
Van der Aa’s latest work Transit received a successful world premiere on 21 November 2009 at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, featuring Sarah Nicolls on piano.
Transit combines material from the piano piece Just Before and Van der Aa’s short film Passage.
In Transit the movements of the pianist interact theatrically with the video projection, the focus shifting between the video projections and the virtuosic playing of the pianist. The film footage shows us an old man trapped in his own house, he is fighting against a loneliness verging on insanity.
What do you do with a piano score that says “press keys, no sound”? Acclaimed pianist Sarah Nicolls and Michel van der Aa reveal all.
Portuguese language version with João Reis & Ana Moura.