Mazzon Paolo
Lighting designer
Born in Venice, Paolo Mazzon studied visual arts in his native city, then attended the Scuola di Teatro Avogaria from 1978 under the guidance of maestro Giovanni Poli, eventually becoming a member of the resident company, with which he took part in numerous European tours.
In 1980 he began collaborating with the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, where he was involved in all the productions of the dance-theatre group created by American choreographer Carolyn Carlson. He then participated in the artist's tours, visiting New York (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Houston (Jones Hall Theatre), Stockholm, and Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet).
Between 1989 and 1994 he worked in Switzerland for the Festival Opera Ascona, in Split for the Croatian National Theatre where he designed the lighting for Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and then in Prague where he was Lighting Designer in St. Nicholas Church for the Autumn Music Festival.
Since 1997 he has held this role in various Italian and international theatres, such as the Dante Alighieri in Ravenna, the Massimo Bellini in Catania, the Comunale in Modena, the Rendano in Cosenza, as well as at the Venice Biennale and the Stadthalle in Vienna.
He collaborates with director, set and costume designer Hugo de Ana in various productions, including Verdi's Nabucco at the Arena di Nîmes (2002), Bellini's La Sonnambula (2006) and Puccini's Tosca (2007) at the Teatro Verdi in Padua, La Sonnambula at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari (2008), Dvořák's Rusalka and Verdi's Macbeth (2016), and Lehár's The Merry Widow (2017) in Beijing for the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
He also teaches lighting design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Verona and for the courses at Verona Accademia per l'Opera italiana.
From 1994 to 2021 he was Lighting Designer at the Fondazione Arena di Verona, overseeing all opera and ballet productions for both the Arena Festival and the artistic seasons at the Teatro Filarmonico. He accompanied the Foundation on tour to Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Beijing, Cyprus, Tokyo, and Oman.
Among his most recent engagements: for the 2018 Opera Festival, the lighting design for Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's Turandot, Verdi's Nabucco, as well as the Verdi Opera Night event; for the 2019 Arena Festival, the lighting for Verdi's La Traviata, Aida, and Il Trovatore, Carmen, and the Plácido Domingo 50 Arena Anniversary Night.
He designed the lighting for all productions of the 2020 Arena festival series Nel Cuore della Musica.
At the Teatro Filarmonico, for the 2018/2019 Opera Season, he designed the lighting for Puccini's La Bohème, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Cimarosa's Il Maestro di Cappella, and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. On the occasion of the autumn series Viaggio in Italia, between October and December 2019, he designed the lighting for Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio segreto, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
In 2020 he designed the lighting for Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri.
He designed the lighting for all productions of the 2021 Opera Season at the Filarmonico: Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ponchielli's Il Parlatore eterno and Puccini's Il Tabarro, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Mascagni's Zanetto, Mozart's Così fan tutte, Poulenc's La Voix humaine and Menotti's The Telephone.
In 2022 he created the lighting for Verdi's Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House Muscat. At the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, he reprised the lighting for Don Pasquale directed by Antonio Albanese.
For the 2022 Festival he designed the lighting for Carmen, Nabucco, La Traviata, Turandot, Orff's Carmina Burana and the gala Domingo in Verdi Opera Night. For the 100° Opera Festival 2023 he designed the lighting for Carmen and La Traviata.
He created the lighting for La Bohème staged at the Filarmonico in 2022 and returned for the 2023 Opera Season with the lighting for Aida.
For the 101° Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2024 he designed the lighting for Aida (1913 production) and Carmen. For the 103° Opera Festival 2026 he also designs the lighting for Aida, in Franco Zeffirelli's production.
Biography updated to July 2026
