Expand
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • View Our YouTube Channel
  • Listen on Spotify
  • View our scores on nkoda
Music Text

Libretto by Michel van der Aa (E)

Scoring

S,Bar;
1.0.1.0-1.1.0.0-perc(1)-pft/synthesizer-laptop/doubleA player-strings(1.1.1.1.1);
soundtrack(surround); film(multiple screens)

Abbreviations (PDF)

Opera
For full details on this stagework, including synopsis and roles, please visit our Opera section.
Publisher

Bote & Bock

Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.

Availability

World Premiere
29/07/2021
Werkstattbühne, Bregenz
Michel van der Aa, director / Bregenzer Festspiele / Ensemble Musikfabrik / Roderick Williams, baritone / Julia Bullock, soprano / Otto Tausk
Composer's Notes

What if our minds could live forever? Recent advances in artificial intelligence and neuroscience mean that we will soon be able to map our memories and experiences, and to use these data to build a digital consciousness identical with our own. These ‘whole brain emulations’ will be able to carry on indefinitely after our deaths: a way of virtual resurrection. But where do our identities really reside? In our minds, our bodies, or our relationships? And how far do the data of our lives determine our fate?

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.
Michel van der Aa

Subjects
Recommended Recording
cd_cover

Julia Bullock / Roderick Williams / Ensemble musikFabrik / Otto Tausk, cond. / Dutch National Opera
Disquietmedia (digital audio release)
https://disquietmedia.net/upload/

Links

Stay updated on the latest composer news and publications