About

Biography

Bernd Purkrabek (1982) was always fascinated by the light. He got early started as a photographer and worked in the lighting departments as lx best boy for feature films. Bernd studied  Lichtgestaltung at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München/ Germany, during his studies he worked as assistent/associate lighting designer for Reinhard Traub and Asa Frankenberg.

Bernd Purkrabek is since 2011 an international lighting designer working in dance, drama and opera.
He developed the lighting design in collaboration with the artistic team in numerous productions
(works worth mentioning include: Der Prinz von Homburg, Les Vepres Sicilliennes, Macbeth, Jenufa,
La fanciulla del West, Charodejka, Maria Stuarda and Peter Grimes all directed by Christof Loy;  Lazarus, Saul and Jephtha directed by Claus Guth; Der Ferne Klang directed by Florentine Klepper;  Suster Bertken & Troparion both directed by Pierre Audi; Beatrice Cenci, Lohengrin and Caruso a Cuba directed by Johannes Erath; Kontrapunkt choreographed by Jörg Weinöhl).

Theatres/Festivals: de Nationale Opera Amsterdam, Royal Opera House Coventgarden, Theater an der Wien, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Schauspiel Köln, Wiener Festwochen, Glyndebourne Festival, Vlaamse Opera, Grand Theatre de Geneva, Opernhaus Zürich, Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Taschenoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Theatre de Champs-Elysse, Palais Garnier, Opera de St. Etienne, Opera National de Lorraine, Opernhaus & Ballett Graz, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf, Oper Frankfurt, New National Theatre Tokyo, Festspielhaus Baden Baden, Liceu Barcelona, Theatre du Capitole Toulouse, Kungliga Operan Stockholm, Oslo Operan, Theater im Bahnhof, Tanztendenz, Akademietheater München, Opera National du Rhin Strasbourg, Schwere Reiter München, Team Odratek…

Bernd  is working internationally on Opera, Drama, and Dance. His atmospheric lighting design has been featured in many theatres, stylistically ranging from the darkest drama to the most sensitive minimalism. He was involved in numerous productions which where nominated/ won the International Opera Awards (ex. Peter Grimes). He was nominated for the Knight of Illumination Award 2017 for his work on Cosi Fan Tutte at the Royal Opera House London.