Franck Evin Lighting designer
Biography
Franck Evin was born in Nantes. He began his career at the age of 19 as a pianist, playing for singers at the Café Théâtre Le Connétable. At this time, he began to take an interest in lighting designs then before turning to a new area: a combination of music and technique.
Thanks to a grant awarded by the French Ministry of Culture he went to work in Lyon at the Opera as Chief electrician assistant. There, he worked with artists such as Ken Russell and Robert Wilson.
In 1986 he started to work as lighting designer at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, which marked the beginning of a close relationship with Werner Schröter and the start of experimental projects in abandoned facilities of the Ruhr area with Eberhard Kloke and the Bochumer Symphoniker, projects that contributed to build his reputation. He then worked in Nantes, Strasburg, Montpellier, Paris, Lyon, Vienna, Bonn, Brussels and Los Angeles.
Since the 1995/1996 Season, he has been artistic director for lightings at the Komische Oper in Berlin, under Harry Kupfer’s direction and with whom he is still working on every production. He then began to work regularly with Andreas Homoki, Barrie Kosky, Calixto Bieito and Hans Neuenfels, gaining exposure on international stages: Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Munich, Graz, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Paris Opera (Boris Godunov in a Francesca Zambello’s production, Lear with Calixto Bieito), Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Flemish Opera and the Bayreuth Festival.
In 2012, Frank Evin was nominated lightings manager at the Zurich Opera under the direction of Andreas Homoki. In 2006, he was awarded an OPUS for the best stage lighting design for Così fan tutte (in a production by Peter Konwinchny). In 2010, the channel ZDF Theaterkanal broadcasted a documentary for the TV show Die Theatermacher and portrayed Franck Evin and his work as a lighting designer.
At the Paris Opera: Boris Godunov, 2002 ; Lear, 2016 ; Prince Igor, 2019
