Aivar Salikhov

Biography

Aivar Salikhov graduated from the production faculty of the Moscow Art Theatre School in 2010. When still a student, he worked as an assistant to lighting designers Damir Ismagilov and Gleb Felshtinsky at the productions Die Fledermaus by I. Strauss, Wozzeck by A. Berg, Ruslan and Lyudmila by M. Glinka (Bolshoi Theatre); The Tempest by W. Shakespeare (Et Cetera Theatre) to mention a few.

Since 2004, he has been a lighting designer in theatres of Moscow, Ufa, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and many other Russian cities. He lit the following productions: A Streetcar Named Desire, Doublebass, The House, He Is in Argentina, The Village of Fools, Husbands and Wives for the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre; The Reflection for the Pushkin Drama Theatre; God of Carnage for the Sovremennik Theatre; The Marriage of Belugin, Viy, Epifan Gateways for the Tabakov Theatre; A Poor Billionaire, Do not Part With Your Loved Ones and Zoika’s Flat for the Volkov Drama Theatre of Yaroslavl; Salem Witches for the Moscow Drama Theater on Malaya Bronnaya; opera productions Aida and Il trovatore by G. Verdi, the performance Dona nobis pacem/ on Hohe Messe in h-moll by I.S. Bach for the Musa Cälil Opera and Ballet Theatre of Tatarstan. He has designed lighting for a number of gala concerts including The Day of Slavic Writing, Kremlin-Gala, and Ballet Stars of the 21st Century at the Kremlin State Palace.

Aivar joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 2008. Currently he is the head of the Stage Lighting Department. He has participated in the Bolshoi Theatre’s reconstruction and led the start-up works on the stage lighting complex as well technical implementation of the lighting design for the Gala Concert at the re-opening of the theatre and for new productions (Be in the Mood for Opera). He has adapted the lighting designs of the Bolshoi Theatre’s productions for tours in the USA, Canada, Japan and Australia.

He is also a guest lighting designer at the Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow, where he has lit the following performances: The Queen of Spades by P. Tchaikovsky, Tristan und Isolde by R. Wagner, La Cenerentola by G. Rossini, Capriccio by R. Strauss and The Passenger by M. Weinberg.

He teaches at the Higher School of Performing Arts (Theatre School of Konstantin Raykin).