Avi Yona «Bambi» Bueno

Avi Yona Bueno, also known as «Bambi», began his career as a lighting designer for rock concerts. He has designed shows for leading Israeli singers and bands such as Ofra Haza and Rita, as well as for international stars like Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and Chick Corea. In the 1980s, he moved to London, where he worked for Row Productions, the lighting company of Pink Floyd and Britannia. Additionally, he designed lighting for Meatloaf and toured Europe with well-known artists such as The Cure, The Commodores, and the Thompson Twins. After returning to Israel, he began working for the theater, including venues such as the Cameri and Habima National Theatre, as well as for experimental theater projects. Currently, he is a lighting designer for the Gesher Theater and the avant-garde Itim Theater Ensemble, founded by Rina Yerushalmi. He has been honored with numerous awards for his influence on lighting design in theater, including the «Moshe Halevi Prize» from Tel Aviv (1995) and the theater award in the category «Best Lighting» for the production of Six Characters in Search of an Author at Gesher Theater (2011).

Since 1992, he has been designing lighting for dance productions and is the resident lighting designer of the Batsheva Dance Company. He has designed the lighting concepts for Ohad Naharin’s Kyr, Passomezzo, Mabul, Arbos, Perpetuum, Black Milk, Sinking of the Titanic, Queens of Golub, Anaphaza, Sabotage Baby, Virus, Kaamos, Z/na, Moshe, Zachacha, Mamootot, Telophaza, Furo, Three, and MAX, as well as for Sharon Eyal’s productions Love, Quiet Village, Bertolina, and Makarova Kabisa. He has also worked for international dance companies such as the Cullberg Ballet, Carte Blanche, Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, Royal Danish Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

In addition, Avi Yona «Bambi» Bueno created lighting concepts for numerous open-air productions, museum installations, architectural projects, musicals, and operas, including Verdi’s Nabucco (2010) and Aida (2011) in the productions of the Israeli Opera Tel Aviv at Masada. In Tel Aviv, Bambi is working on establishing his own studio for lighting installations.