Born in China and educated in France and the U.S., lighting designer Yi Zhao lives in Berlin and works internationally. He studied at the Yale School of Drama, and creates designs for theater, opera, live music, and dance. His work is informed by a background in fine art photography and a passion for music.
Nuit sans aube marks his debut at the Opéra Comique.
Recent projects include El Niño by John Adams at the Metropolitan Opera, The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli at Norwegian National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Broadway musical Purple Rain based on the film by Prince, the Broadway revival of The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder (for which he received a Tony Awards nomination), and the dance theater piece Remains for Sasha Waltz & Guests.
In 2016 he was honored with a Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise for major contributions to American society by a young foreign-born artist.
Notable upcoming projects include the world premiere of composer Missy Mazzoli’s opera Lincoln in the Bardo at the Metropolitan Opera, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by George Saunders, and a new production of Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Broucek at the Bregenzer Festspiele this summer.
