Michel van der Aa’s Blank Out

Presented by Cal Performances

Michel van der Aa performs Blank Out, April 28-29 in Zellerbach Hall (credit: Courtesy of Michel van der Aa)

Swedish soprano Miah Persson performs at the center of Blank Out, Michel van der Aa’s chamber opera about tragedy, memory, and loss. Persson is the sole performer onstage, but throughout the work, she interacts with a video of her character’s grown son (baritone Roderick Williams), sings with a recording of the Netherlands Chamber Choir and with layered recordings of her own voice, and films herself as she navigates a miniature set of a country house, the imagery projected in real time to create the 3D backdrop that she inhabits onstage. In van der Aa’s creation, what is real and now melds with what is remembered and what is felt as Persson and Williams reveal a shared trauma, inspired by the life and work of South African poet Ingrid Jonker. 

 

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City: Berkeley
Price Range:
$45–$78
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Performers

Miah Persson soprano
Roderick Williams baritone (film)
Netherlands Chamber Choir (film)
Klaas Stok conductor
Michel van der Aa composer, film, and stage director
Sophie Motley dramaturg
Floriaan Ganzevoort lighting designer
Frank van der Weij production development
Thom Stuart movement advisor
Joost Rietdijk director of photography
Melvin Kant film producer
William Griffioen film producer

Zellerbach Hall

Zellerbach Hall

2430 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
United States