David Finn

Since 1997 the renowned designer has worked increasingly in opera, with productions including The Rake’s Progress (Scottish Opera), Parsifal (Metropolitan Opera), The Marriage of Figaro (Sydney), Tannhäuser (Berlin), Ariane et Barbe-Bleu (Paris), Ariadne auf Naxos (Salzburg), Otello (Brussels), Falstaff (Florence), Boris Godunov, Lucio Silla, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanniand Le nozze di Figaro (Amsterdam), Das Rheingold, Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Orfeo (Stuttgart), Alcina, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Faust (San Francisco) and the Ring cycle (Toronto). Finn’s extensive work at London’s Royal Opera House includes, for the Royal Ballet, Giselle, Other Dances (both with Jennifer Tipton), Sweet Violets (Knight of Illumination Award), Frankenstein, Symphonic Dances and Swan Lake; and for the Royal Opera, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung and Peter Grimes, The Flying Dutchman, and Tannhäuser. Finn was resident lighting designer for Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project from 1993 to 2000. Film work includes Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, and onstage, ZED (Tokyo) and Michael Jackson ONE (Las Vegas) for Cirque du Soleil.

David Finn is supported by the Mary-Louise and James S. Aagard Lighting Director Endowed Chair.

Roles at Lyric: Macbeth (2021/22), Les Troyens (2016/17); Tannhäuser (2014/15); Rusalka (2013/14).

Last updated: August 12, 2021