Michel van der Aa's UPLOAD to Make North American Debut at Park Avenue Armory

This spring, Park Avenue Armory will present the North American premiere of Dutch composer, film and stage director, and librettist Michel van der Aa's groundbreaking new opera Upload, following its acclaimed run at the Dutch National Opera in fall 2021. Featuring music, theater, film, and state-of-the-art motion capture technology, Upload's live performances will be adapted for the Armory's cavernous Wade Thompson Drill Hall. Performed by the incomparable soprano Julia Bullock and acclaimed baritone Roderick Williams, Upload tells the story of a daughter and her father who, when confronted by his inevitable death, has his thoughts and memories "uploaded" to achieve an eternal digital consciousness. The deeply emotional work poses age-old philosophical questions-about fate, identity, the cost of immortality, and the ethics of technological advancement-that take on new significance against a backdrop of present-day and near-future technologies.

"We are delighted to welcome Michel van der Aa's extraordinary talent and prescient vision back to the Drill Hall in our 2022 season," said Rebecca Robertson, Founding President and Executive Producer of Park Avenue Armory. "Upload creates a daring new vision of what our future selves might become in the digital age, with live performance by the finest operatic voices presented through the prism of technology to get at the heart of what makes us human."

"Michel van der Aa's prowess as an opera composer and director has consistently pushed the boundaries of the medium, and Upload exemplifies his standing as one of opera's leading innovators," added Pierre Audi, Marina Kellen French Artistic Director of the Armory. "In this new work, the exceptional talent of Julia Bullock and Roderick Williams works in tandem with inventive digital imaging and sound mixing to create a wholly original musical and theatrical experience."

"Park Avenue Armory is one of my favorite performance spaces in the world. When it presented my opera Blank Out in 2017, I was inspired by the response from the Armory's open-minded and diverse audiences. Upload was developed with the Armory in mind, and I'm deeply grateful for Pierre and the Armory's support in creating this new work," said Michel van der Aa.

Upload is set across two timelines: in flashbacks, a pre-recorded film projected onstage documents the origins and practicalities of the "uploading" procedure, and stars Katja Herbers (Westworld, The Americans) as a psychiatrist and Ashley Zukerman (Succession, Fear Street) as the facility's CEO. In the present day, live motion-captured projections represent the father's (Williams) digital avatar, which interacts with the daughter (Bullock) in real-time as she copes with her loss and is forced to make difficult decisions about her father's future existence. Featuring an original score with acoustic and electronic instrumentation by Ensemble Musikfabrik, a renowned ensemble for contemporary music led by music director Otto Tausk, Upload is a continuous interplay between live and pre-recorded elements that blur the lines between earthly and virtual realities.

In conjunction with Upload, the Armory will host an artist talk with Michel van der Aa and Marina Abramović about the creative development of the work on Tuesday, March 22.

Performance Details:

Upload
Performances: March 22 - 30
Monday - Wednesday at 7:30pm
Friday - Saturday at 8:00pm

Tickets start at $45.

A Park Avenue Armory commission.

Commissioned by and in Co-Production with Park Avenue Armory, Dutch National Opera, Oper Köln, Bregenzer Festspiele, Ensemble Musikfabrik, doubleA Foundation.

Composition, Director, Libretto, Michel van der Aa
Daughter, Julia Bullock
Father, Roderick Williams
Psychiatrist, Katja Herbers (film)
CEO, Ashley Zukerman (film)
Music Director, Otto Tausk
Orchestra, Ensemble Musikfabrik
Set & Lighting Design, Theun Mosk
Dramaturgy, Madelon Kooijman, Niels Nuijten
Director of Photography, Joost Rietdijk
Motion Capture and Real-Time Graphics, Darien Brito
VFX Supervisor & Fractal Artist, Julius Horsthuis

Artist Talk: Upload
A conversation with Michel van der Aa and Marina Abramović
Tuesday, March 22 at 6:00pm
Tickets: $15

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS

The health and safety of the public is of paramount concern to the Armory. All ticket-holders must be fully vaccinated. "Fully vaccinated" means that you received your final dose at least 14 days before your performance date. At check-in, ticket-holders will be required to show proof of full vaccination (the New York State Excelsior Pass or a hard copy or photo of your vaccination card) and a government-issued photo ID. Masks must be properly worn inside at all times. Park Avenue Armory surpasses CDC and New York Standards for ventilation, observes strict cleaning and disinfecting protocols, and provides disinfecting stations throughout the public areas.

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