{"id":5473,"date":"2022-06-15T14:49:46","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T18:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-program-page&p=5473"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:56:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:56:33","slug":"bfa","status":"publish","type":"bu-program-page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/academics\/degrees-programs\/lighting-design\/bfa\/","title":{"rendered":"BFA Lighting Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For lighting designers and lighting production students, the theatre is the studio. There is a direct link between the experience of learning about light in the classroom and the development of skill sets during production. BU’s BFA lighting design program provides high-level conservatory-style training with an emphasis on theatre, storytelling, collaboration, and finding a unique voice as an artist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lighting design students work collaboratively on every aspect of a production from planning to creating the design ideas, hanging lights, programming, cueing, and executing the design in performance. Working with light in production provides a unique opportunity for a young student designer to discover how light can support stories, themes, text, music, and movement. It is the place where all the elements of theatre come together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lizzie Borden The Musical | Photo by Daniel Bastidas<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace | Photo by Jacob Chang-Rascle<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace | Photo by Jacob Chang-Rascle<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Program of Study<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before officially declaring a BFA Design & Production major, each first year student entering the BU School of Theatre<\/a> is admitted into the First Year Design & Production Core<\/a>. The First Year Core experience establishes a base vocabulary that serves as the foundation for a student\u2019s progression into their chosen BFA degree program. In addition, the First Year Core is designed to provide an appropriate context for faculty evaluation of each student\u2019s strengths, interests, and potential for success in the upper years of training. At the end of the first year, each student will declare a BFA major; these decisions are reviewed and mentored by members of the School of Theatre faculty before a student is officially enrolled in their BFA program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lighting design majors critically analyze a wide range of texts, music, movement, and design. They create and interpret visual, conceptual, and emotional responses. They communicate through light and design these responses to an audience in support of the theatrical experience by learning to provide mood, visibility, composition, and environment, and create a unified stylistic vocabulary within the production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students also acquire the essential technical understanding of the equipment and tools used in contemporary theatre design as well as geometry, physics, color, electrical theory, software, hardware, and organizational paperwork, along with leadership, communication, and collaborative work skills. Average class size ranges from five to eight students, in state-of-the-art facilities exposing students to an advanced tool kit for the study and creation of lighting design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Situated within a large, top-tier research institution, students pursue coursework in the University Hub<\/a>, the University’s general education program that is integrated into the undergraduate student experience. This provides students with the chance to dive into other topics, from other colleges and schools, to enhance their studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Illuminating stories on stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Grant Powicki (CFA’25)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

BFA Theatre, Lighting Design<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity to study at a large research university, while still having the rigor of a conservatory style I knew would allow me to dive deep into my interests while being able to engage with a larger community and take advantage of what a large university has to offer. I have absolutely loved my BU experience. Getting the opportunity to learn from current professionals in the field and work alongside them both in and outside of class has allowed me to develop relationships in the industry that will stay with me post graduation. I’ve programmed for Opera North in New Hampshire and was the Interim Lighting Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for a fall!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

more from grant<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Be mentored by successful lighting designers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like Resident Lighting Designer Kelly Martin (CFA’16)<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, BU School of Theatre students worked with award-winning director Ain Gordon and resident lighting designer Kelly Martin on a week and a half-long workshop, bringing together theatre, design, dramaturgy, arts admin, LGBTQ+ studies, and medical students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students prepared for two public staged readings of Gordon’s play, which reflects on an often-buried moment in history: the beginning of AIDS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lighting design students had the opportunity to work with Martin, a lighting designer and associate based in New York City who’s lit productions with numerous arts organizations including New York Theatre Ballet and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a graduating senior, it\u2019s really fun to work with a School of Theatre alum who has already established himself in the industry. I\u2019m learning a lot from him about how to approach workshops and new works like this one,” says McKenna Ebert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Putting on this workshop is remarkably useful because it has given me the capacity to throw a whole pile of design ideas at the play and see what sticks. Having the students around is what makes that possible. It\u2019s also exciting to bring in a style of theatre-making rooted in the professional world and see how it differs from plays in the educational setting,” says Martin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Opportunities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Explore your creative process through supervised production assignments and hands-on workshops, working with professional faculty members who are leaders in their fields. Enjoy exposure to the current practice and philosophy of design and production through associations with professional theatre organizations and the vibrant arts community in Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Develop professional skills through production work, internships, and mentored work and design that will serve as a basis for your transition from the academic world to the larger community of theatre professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet with professional guests from all areas of lighting design and production who come to BU to host workshops or complete a residency, allowing students to network and learn about all the facets of professional lighting careers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\t