Liesa Van der Aa (°1986) is a composer, violinist, singer, director and actress. She was born and raised in the Brussels area and has been active in the Belgian art scene for more than 15 years.

Her work is situated within a polyphonic/multidisciplinary context that explores the boundaries between music, content, image and art.

ALBUMS
Liesa Van der Aa made her debut as a singer in the pop circuit in 2012 with her solo album, Troops. For Troops, she mixed only voice and violin with electronic sound effects, resulting in a bombastic and well-received album. For this album, she earned a nomination for Best Musician at the MIA's in 2012.

In 2014, she released her second album WOTH, a musical triptych based on the death ceremony in Ancient Egypt.

Her third album Easy Alice, a jazz album, had a parallel cinematic component with I Can't Go Back To Yesterday: an experimental crossover music film, following on from the conceptual music album and inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Nietzsche. The film won several awards worldwide.

Her most recent album Caramel wraps warmth around sharp edges, without ever losing its bite. Van der Aa’s most intimate and fearless work so far.

 

Liesa is currently collaborating with the Dewaele brothers (SOULWAX) on a solo album expected for release in 2026/2027.

MUSIC THEATRE
In addition to the pop circuit, Van der Aa set up a new contemporary music ensemble under the name One Trick Pony. It is a music laboratory that explores the boundaries between minimalist new music, baroque music and jazz. It focuses on the visualization of music and musicians on stage, in film…
 

Human abilities such as reason, motivation, and personal benefits pepper her work.

PLAY (2019) unfolds as a tennis match for string quartet, which explores the birth of power, based on Hobbes' Leviathan. For this musical theatre performance, Liesa received a KLARA award in 2020 for 'most exciting contemporary music performance of the year'.

ENTRECÔTE followed in 2021. From behind a lavishly stocked meat counter, this musical event dissects capitalist society in the form of a dark, erotic, and entertainingly compact tableau vivant.

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In the summer of 2024 Liesa rewrote PJ Harvey's music for the performance I WANT ABSOLUTE BEAUTY (directed by Ivo Van Hove) at the Ruhtriennale.

 

In 2025, she created HUNTER, commissioned by Neuköllner Oper (together with the Berlin vocal ensemble B O D I E S, founded by Kat Frankie). A group of eight players meet on a basketball court. The referee blows the whistle. The game starts. Something bounces. It could be a ball. It could also be a beat. Are we witnessing a joyful game? Or are we part of a hunt for humanity?

MUSIC FOR FILM
Composing music for film was a logical next step in Liesa's creative process. The collaboration with the Belgian director Gilles Coulier started with his short films and culminated in the feature film Cargo from 2017. Liesa's work for Cargo was awarded an Ensor for Best Soundtrack.
More recently, Liesa wrote music for the film Augure, Baloji's feature debut, for All The Pretty Little Horses by Michalis Karakatsanis and for Frontera by Judith Collel.​

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© Angela Vanderstraeten