Bruce J. Williams

Lighting designer

Bruce was Lighting Designer with Francesca Gilpin for Cinderella (1999) for Opera Omnibus, and then also worked on A Masked Ball (February 2000).

Bruce began his career with the Da Silva children’s theatre, touring the U.K. After training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, his work took him all over the world in theatre, conference production and international technical management. Bruce has lit many rock and roll artists including Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac, and concert performers Shirley Bassey, Dean Martin, and Andy Williams. He was involved in many London West End productions including the first national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

In opera, Bruce had a long association with Glyndebourne, revolutionizing their touring lighting systems and serving as Deputy Lighting Manager. In 1999, he lit the English première of the opera The Sorcerer’s Daughter for the Brighton Festival, and the first performance since 1978 in London of Bernstein’s Mass, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Bruce subsequently joined Opera By Definition based at the Trinity Arts Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, where he designed the lighting for a variety of productions as well as doing various other work behind the scenes in the company (including being listed as Sponsorship Manager).

Information partly derived from the programme accompanying A Masked Ball (February 2000)