JYRI SUOMINEN
Lighting designer
 Jyri Suominen, resident in Turku, has made a name for himself both in Finland and abroad for his numerous lighting and stage designs for theatre, opera and, in particular, modern dance productions. Outside Finland and the other Nordic countries he has worked in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Russia, North America, and Mexico.
During the past few years Jyri Suominen has worked with a number of foreign stage directors and choreographers, such as Jo Strømgren, Rui Horta, Uri Ivgi, Ted Stoffer, Helge Musial and Allen Kaeja. Kaeja's "Buried Moments", a set of three works, was premiered in Ottawa at the Canada Dance Festival in 2002, and the lighting design by Jyri Suominen was widely acclaimed in the international media. He also designed the lighting and sets for "In-vita", "Standing Waves" and "Slice of Time" by Jeanne Yasko, Artistic Director of the NorrDans group, premiered in collaboration with the Kroumata percussion ensemble in Sweden. The TV recording of the first night of "Standing Waves" won a special mention for its visual impact at the Monaco TV Film Festival. Jyri Suominen has also worked with such Finnish choreographers as Tiina Lindfors, Lassi Sairela, Eeva Soini and Tuomo Railo.
Among the most recent opera assignments by Suominen have been the lighting designs for the stage works "El Corregidor y la Molinera" and "El amor brujo" by Manuel de Falla, the original versions of which received their Finnish premieres in Mikkeli with Ville Saukkonen directing in December 2004, and Udo Zimmerman's opera "Weiße Rose" directed by Elisabeth Ljungars earlier that year at the Piteå Chamber Opera.
Jyri Suominen has been responsible for the lighting design of many opera and music performances at Turku Castle, such as Mozart's mini-opera "Gli Spoci de Luci" directed by Erik Söderblom and the music-play "The Lovers in Turku Castle" directed by Michael Baran. Other assignments in Turku have included lighting designs for the Eri Dance Theatre and several theatre groups and choreographers. His lighting projects have also taken in architectural, environmental and TV productions. The biggest of these is the opening and closing ceremonies for the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994. As Artist in Residence - Across Oceans at York University in Toronto 2001-2002, he lectured
in addition to designing.
The lighting for the "prologue" to The Flying Dutchman, the performance by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra of Verdi's Requiem beside the Suomen Joutsen in August 2004, was also by Jyri Suominen. For autumn 2005 he is designing the lighting for the dance work "På Gränsen" by Hanna Gillgren at the Värmlandsopera in Sweden and for the three Bartók stage works to be performed by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concert Hall.
| 
