About

As the longtime Lighting Director at the Washington National Opera, A.J. has designed more than 40 productions, including Macbeth, Il trovatore, Don Giovanni, Gods & Mortals, and The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson. His work at WNO also includes six world-premiere operas—An American Soldier, Penny, Better Gods, The Dictator’s Wife, Proving Up, and Taking Up Serpents—as well as 36 world-premiere one-act operas, numerous galas, and special events.

At The Kennedy Center, A.J. works as a key lighting designer across opera, theater, and musical events. Recent projects include The Kennedy Center at 50 (broadcast nationally on PBS); On Stage at the Opera House—a six-month pandemic series that transformed the Opera House by building a stage over the seats and placing a limited audience on stage; A Time to Sing with Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams; Love Letters starring Martin Sheen and Melissa Fitzgerald.

A.J. is widely respected for his work as a revival and remount lighting designer. He’s recreated more than a dozen major productions for designers such as Chris Akerlind, Mark McCullough, and Bruno Poet—including La traviata, La bohème, Champion, The Lion, the Unicorn and Me, Porgy and Bess, and West Side Story, both nationally and internationally. He’s known for honoring a designer’s original intent while adapting designs on the fly to meet each production’s artistic and technical needs.

Beyond lighting, A.J. is also an accomplished scenic designer. His most recent and notable scenic design—Godspell! at Flint Repertory Theatre, staged in a working swimming pool—earned him BroadwayWorld’s Best Scenic Design award. His scenic work shows the same architectural sensibility, collaboration, and inventive use of space that define his lighting.

Known for working quickly and collaboratively under pressure, A.J. brings a strong artistic point of view and technical precision to every project. He delivers expressive, polished designs across traditional and non-traditional performance spaces alike.

His work has received multiple honors, including 8 Helen Hayes Award nominations for Outstanding Lighting and/or Scenic Design. He’s a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.