John Conklin (born June 22, 1937) is an international

theater designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of Theatre, theatrical, as well as film or television theatrical scenery, scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in rece ...

, dramaturg and teaches in the Department of Design for Stage and Film at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

Life and career

John Conklin was born in Hartford Connecticut, and educated at the Kingswood-Oxford School and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. In New York City, he has designed for the Metropolitan Opera; the New York City Opera; the New York Shakespeare Festival; Broadway and off-Broadway productions. He has designed for other U.S. opera companies, including the San Francisco Opera and the Chicago Lyric Opera; Glimmerglass Opera; Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Santa Fe Opera; Seattle Opera; and the opera companies of Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Washington, and Boston. Regional theaters where he has worked include the American Repertory Theatre, the Goodman Theatre (Chicago), the Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, the Guthrie Theatre, Center Stage (Baltimore), and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Conklin has designed extensively on Broadway, receiving a Tony award nomination (1974) for set design of The Au Pair Man. He received the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatrical Design from the Theatre Development Fund (2008). In Europe he has designed for the English National Opera; the Royal Opera, Stockholm and the opera companies of Munich, Amsterdam, and Bologna. In 1991 he designed the costumes for Robert Wilson's production of the Magic Flute at the Bastille Opera in Paris. In 2008 he retired from his position as Associate Artistic Director for the

Glimmerglass Opera The Glimmerglass Festival (formerly known as Glimmerglass Opera) is an American opera company. Founded in 1975 by Peter Macris, the Glimmerglass Festival presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight ...

, a post he had held for eighteen years. He is the artistic advisor for

Boston Lyric Opera Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976. BLO is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New England. BLO employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalist ...

where his work has included ''Lucia de Lammermoor'' (2005) and Brittens's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (2011). Reviewing the latter production, the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' described the scenery as "by turns abstract, stylized, whimsical, and deconstructed." At BLO he also works to develop new supplemental performances, lecture series, and community events. Conklin is on the faculty of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he teaches courses in design for stage and film.

References

Notes

External links

Glimmerglass Opera

Tisch School of the Arts

January 6, 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Conklin, John Living people 1937 births American scenic designers Yale School of Drama alumni Tisch School of the Arts faculty Opera designers