<p>We are looking for a school which has a concentration in lighting technology (as opposed to lighting design) - my son wants to do the hands-on lighting work: hanging, focusing, programming for automated lighting, repairing, running the light board. Although I think some experience in design will be helpful for him, he's really looking for a preponderance of lighting courses in technical, not design, areas. He has hs experience as well as job experience at our community theater - theater tech degrees seem to include a fair amount of coursework in set design, costuming, etc which are of no interest to him. Does anyone have any recommendations for schools or programs which are that focused?(no pun intended...)</p>
<p>I, too, am currently applying to theatre programs (I specialize in stage management) and your request seems a little odd to me for a couple of reasons. </p>
<p>First, learning how to hang, focus, program, and repair lights is something you DO NOT need four years of college level training for at all. If he is only interested in this very very specific area of lighting, he's going to have a hard time finding a program for that. I'd suggest he get a degree in something else and just get hands on experience by working in theatres to learn how to do that. Like I said, it doesn't take four years to learn how to do simple light technician work so he might consider doing an electrical engineering degree which will show him the science side of the stuff he wants to do.</p>
<p>Second, Theatre programs are designed to give people who intend to work in theatre a well rounded theatre education (when a tech specialization is chosen, usually the other courses are more tech oriented as opposed to acting/directing) so they can be successful working in theatre. To tell you the truth, if your son chooses to just learn how to do those select things, he's not going to go very far in the theatre industry because he'll always be just a technician. A lot of the time there are people who are part of the crew who can easily install lighting and sound equipment and the lighting designer can program the board. I'm not entirely sure why he'd want to do something so specific either, especially if he's not even interested in lighting design. </p>
<p>To answer your original question though, I've been looking all over for theatre programs (BFA and BA) and none of them will allow him to do something so specific. And remember, all lighting design majors will require some course training in other aspects of tech theatre and also dramatic history. However, he will not necessarily have to take costuming or set design if he doesn't want to; a lot of schools allow you to pick electives and he could pick sound or stage management classes instead.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Prince George Community College (suburban Washington, DC) in Maryland offers the official union apprenticeship program for IATSE Local 22. </p>
<p>Welcome</a> to I.A.T.S.E. # 22</p>
<p>Happykid and her lighting cronies will be considering this option next year.</p>
<p>If you google "IATSE Local", you may find a similar apprenticeship program closer to your home.</p>
<p>Have you looked at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati? My S graduated from there as a lighting major. When he was an undergrad, he was asked what direction he wanted to go - technical or design. He too was more interested in the technical elements. While he got exposure and design experience, he spent more time learning the technical elements of lighting. One class in particular, Lighting Technology, instructed him on the use of 6 or so different lighting consoles, and how to program moving lights on each.</p>
<p>The education he received at CCM prepared him well for employment upon graduation. He has been working in the industry ever since, capable of handling any lighting job - technical or designing.</p>