Urs Schönebaum

Urs Schönebaum studied photography in Munich and worked from 1995 until 1998 with Max Keller as a part of the lighting department of Münchner Kammerspiele. After being assistant director for productions at Grand Théâtre de Genève, Lincoln Center New York and Münchner Kammerspiele he started in 2000 to work as a lighting designer for opera, theater, installations and performances.

He has participated in over 80 productions at major theaters including Covent Garden London, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin, Dramaten Stockholm, Det Norske Teatret Oslo, Teatro dell’Opera Roma, Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Salzburger Festspiele and Bayreuth Festival.

He regularly worked with directors such as Stefan Larsson, La Fura dels Baus, William Kentridge and Robert Wilson. His works include also lighting designs for art projects with Vanessa Beecroft, Anselm Kiefer, Dan Graham and Marina Abramović.

Summer 2023 Schönebaum is lighting designer for Kurt Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) at Festival d'Aix en Provence. At the same festival he will be the lighting designer for the filmatic live-concert "Ballet Russes", with the Stravinsky's master pieces The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring performed by Orchestre de Paris and the conductor Klaus Mäkelä.

Updated March 2023