Head of lighting design
Olaf Freese
Olaf Freese was born in Berlin and completed his technical training at the Berliner Ensemble and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg. In the following years, he worked as head of the lighting department at the Schauspiel Hannover, the Deutsches Theater Berlin and the Staatsoper Berlin.
Since 1992, he has also worked internationally as a lighting designer at renowned theatres and opera houses, including the Hamburg State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Royal Opera House, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the New National Theatre in Tokyo.
Since 1992, he has also worked internationally as a lighting designer at renowned theatres and opera houses, including the Hamburg State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Royal Opera House, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the New National Theatre in Tokyo.
Olaf Freese created the lighting design for Rusalka, Der Freischütz, Fidelio and for the world premiere of Peter Handke's Zdeněk Adamec at the Salzburg Festival as well as for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Die Walküre at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Important directors have included Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, Falk Richter, Claus Guth, Friederike Heller, Stefan Herheim and Vera Nemirova.
In 2016, he developed the lighting concept for Stockhausen's Donnerstag aus Licht at Theater Basel in a production by Lydia Steier, which was voted Performance of the Year in the Opernwelt magazine critics' poll. In addition, Etienne Plussʾ stage design for Beat Furrer's Violetter Schnee at the Staatsoper Berlin, for which Olaf Freese created the lighting design, was awarded the ‘Der Faust’ theatre prize.
In addition to his work at the theatre, Olaf Freese teaches lighting design at the Dresden University of Fine Arts and the Hamburg University of Fine Arts.
Olaf Freese has been Artistic Director of Lighting at the Komische Oper Berlin since the 2022/23 season.