[This is a guest post by Wendy Greenwood, lighting co-ordinator at the Canadian Opera Company. For more information on the Wally Russell Internship, click here]

In my final year of university one of my professors offered me the opportunity to take an Independent Study with the Canadian Opera Company as an apprentice lighting design assistant. I was ecstatic. I had only discovered lighting design while in my first year, and I loved it. I loved light. The way it moved, the way it evoked or manipulated emotion, what it revealed—or hid . . .  I couldn’t believe the opportunity before me. That season the productions were Don Pasquale and Il Re Pastore at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. It was also my first introduction to Rep (running more than one show at a time on the same stage). That opportunity turned out to be everything I could have hoped—I was working with a large opera company alongside two very different yet equally talented lighting designers. I learned so much over the course of that apprenticeship, consciously and unconsciously, lessons that helped shape who I became as a lighting designer and my career path as a lighting professional. The COC has experienced incredible growth since then—we produce seven mainstage productions a year in our own opera house—and there have been many mentors and influences in my life since that first apprenticeship, but the COC will always be there at the start of it all.

But now comes the best part: here I am, years later working for that same company that arguably gave me a running start in this crazy industry, and I find myself in the amazing position of being able to return the favour.

First—a bit about a man named Wally Russell. Wally caught the theatre bug the same way many of us did—as a teenager working on community theatre projects. But it wasn’t until after he completed degrees in Mathematics and Science at U of T that he took the turn towards the arts professionally. Wally was one of the original lighting designers with, and technical director for, both the Canadian Opera Company and The National Ballet of Canada, both still VERY young companies at the time. Not one to sit still, he became involved in many notable projects—not least of which was consulting on the design and construction of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for which he received Canada’s Centennial Medal—until eventually becoming President of Strand Lighting USA in 1972. At Strand he helped set a new standard for technology and innovation in entertainment lighting. You can read a more complete bio for Wally at wallyfund.org, but suffice to say that over the course of his career Wally was a major influence and driving factor in the advancement of entertainment lighting technology. Sadly, Wally passed away in 1992, having dedicated so much of his life to the advancement and exploration of his chosen field and mentoring those coming up along the way.

In 1998, The Wally Russell Foundation (founded by a group of industry professionals whose careers had been directly influenced and/or mentored by Wally) began funding what would prove to be a very successful Lighting Design Internship at the Los Angeles Opera (Wally was the company’s first technical director and remained so until his death). In 2006 the Foundation found themselves in the enviable position of having additional funds, and chose to honour Wally’s Canadian roots by providing for a similar Canadian intern placement with the Canadian Opera Company. The Canadian Opera Company Wally Russell Internship is now awarded annually and has helped jumpstart the careers of a number of young lighting professionals.

As the COC we are proud to be able to open the internship coast to coast to coast this year. I know how invaluable that initial time spent as an apprentice was to me, and I hope others will see the benefit as well. I look forward to what I hope will be a very difficult selection process! And as always, I am incredibly grateful to the Wally Russell Foundation Board for their continued support.

So. If you are a Canadian student currently completing your final year of post-secondary in a theatre or drama program, are excited and inspired by stage lighting, and are interested in applying for the Wally Russell Internship, I welcome you to follow this link to find even more information on the Internship and the application process.

Photo: Phillip Addis (right, on swing) as Jaufré Rudel and Rachel Harnisch (below) as Clémence in the Vlaamse Opera production of Love from Afar, 2010.