Biography

Matthew Adelson is a lighting designer for theater, musical theater, dance, opera, concerts and live events.

His work includes long collaborative relationships with the Berkshire Theater Group/Festival (over 30 productions), the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (over 25 productions) and Burning Coal Theater (Raleigh, NC, more than 30 productions including work in London). Recent projects with these companies include some of the first productions to be presented in a COVID-19 safe environment. In 2020, this included the first professional, and union sanctioned musical, Godspell, for BTG.

Recent and upcoming productions include The Weir and A Christmas Carol for BTG, Dog People and Night at The Speakeasy for Great Barrington Public Theater, 24 Hours @ Once for Arts Letters & Numbers, Centuries for the Ancram Center for the Arts, The Book of Will for STNJ and Merrily We Roll Along for Burning Coal.

Additional regional credits include Shakespeare & Company, Bardavon/Woodstock Playhouse, Chester Theatre Company, Theater at Monmouth, Barrington Stage Company, Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Theatreworks (Colorado Springs), Florida Studio Theatre, Spooky Action (Washington, DC), Merrimack Repertory Company, Portland Stage Company, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Westport Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, North Carolina Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, among many others.

Matthew's New York credits include the recent premieres of The Violin and Some Old Black Man, both at 59E59, and the recent revival of Fiorello!, at the 13th Street Theater (CSC). Additional work at: Aaron Davis Hall, the Adobe, Bank Street, Cherry Lane, Culture Project, Drama League, Grove Street, HERE, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, Lincoln Center Institute, McGinn Cazale, Mint, New Georges, Page 73, Provincetown Playhouse and the 78th Street Theatre Lab. 

From 2005 to 2014, Matthew was the Director of Production and Lighting Designer for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (Great Barrington, MA), where he created the lighting for over 200 concerts and events for such artists as: James Taylor, Natalie Merchant, Suzanne Vega, Robert Cray, Los Lobos, Indigo Girls, Rufus Wainwright, Cowboy Junkies, Dr. John, Fab Faux, Chris Botti, Dianne Reeves, McCoy Tyner, Angelique Kidjo, Natalie MacMaster, Joan Rivers, Paula Poundstone, Freddie Roman, John Pizzarelli, Barbara Cook, Barbara Carroll, Bebe Neuwirth, Donna McKechnie, Michael Feinstein, Deborah Voigt, Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma.

Additionally, Matthew is the Production Manager and Adjunct Faculty for Five College Dance (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst).

Previously, He is was the Production Manager for the annual Yidstock Festival of New Yiddish Music at the Yiddish Book Center from 2012 to 2023, the Lighting Designer for the Dance Department at Williams College from 2006 to 2015, and the Production Coordinator for the Dance Department at the Tisch School of the Arts/New York University from 2001 to 2005.

Named best lighting designer of the year multiple times by The Berkshire Eagle, New Jersey Star Ledger, Raleigh Independent, Albany Metroland and the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Matthew holds an MFA in design from the Yale School of Drama and a BA in theatre and history from the University at Albany. He is a member of the United Scenic Artists (IATSE Local USA 829).

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