Glen D’Haenens

Glen D’haenens was about to enroll for studying electronic engineering, when he just in time
remembered the decision he made after attending a concert in Paris at the age of 14. He knew that he
wanted to do something with lights, visual communication and temporary installations. So after
graduating as a director for television and film, he started working as a lighting technician for Opera
Ballet Vlaanderen in 1999, where he was head of light, sound, video and special effects from 2011
until end 2024.

Apart from his technical work at OBV he started making his own light designs, in which his other
interests could be combined : music, magical realism, abstract, impressionist and baroque paintings,
graphic design, architecture and rhythm.

Glen designed light for different types of performances : dance, theater, music, events, architecture
and of course a lot of opera. He worked on different continents for a great variety of directors and
choreographers.

He has worked in houses all over Europe and the world, including Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, La
Monnaie, De Nederlandse Opera, Opera Zuid, Opéra du Rhin, Opéra Comique, Opéra Nantes
Angers, La Scala, Teatro Maestranza, New York Joyce Theatre, English National Opera, Drum
Theatre Beijing, St Petersburg Mikhailovsky Theatre and many more.
Directors and choreographers he worked for include Waut Koeken, Pierre Audi, Guy Joosten, Nigel
Lowery, Carlos Wagner, Christophe Gayral, Béatrice Lachausée, Alma Terasse, Benoît De
Leersnyder, Shuang Zou, Caroline D’haese, Leena Keizer, Maria Lamont, Hans Op de Beeck,…
Recent works include : “De Bekeerlinge” (Opera Vlaanderen), “Het Lijflied” (Opera Zuid) and “Solar”
(De Munt).

At the SIHA school in Antwerp he helped create the department for stagecrafts and taught theatre
lighting. He continues to give workshops in light design for the Antwerp University, STEPP and Open
Doek. He recently started working at the department for interior architecture at the Antwerp University,
where he will be responsible for renovating the LightLab, a space for teaching and experimentation,
where students learn to convey emotion through light and sound, a craft he will start teaching next
academic year.

Glen spends his spare time on drumming, reading, writing music and synthesizers.