Sofia Alexiadou

Summary

Sofia Alexiadou is currently the Programme Director of Creative Lighting Control and Light in Performance at Rose Bruford College.

Sofia Alexiadou is an accomplished lighting designer working across theatre, opera, dance and music theatre internationally. She was born in Piraeus, Greece, and initially studied Italian Language and Literature before moving into theatre and performance studies. She later completed postgraduate studies (MA) at the Faculty of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and an MA in Leadership in HE with Liverpool’s John Moore University and, is also a PhD candidate at the University of Athens.

Sofia began her practical career in lighting by working as an assistant to well-known Greek lighting designer Lefteris Pavlopoulos early in her training (around 2009–2011). Since then,  she has worked professionally on over 200 productions spanning genres and forms, including performances in ancient venues such as the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus and Odeon of Herodes Atticus, national opera houses in Greece, UK, Italy, Luxenberg and Poland, Opera di Bologna, Welsh National Opera, Teatro San Carlo in Naples and many others across Europe. Her portfolio includes operas, music theatre commissions and classical theatre productions.

In addition to her creative practice, Alexiadou plays a significant role in education and research in lighting. She is Programme Director for the BA (Hons) Creative Lighting Control and MA Light in Performance courses at Rose Bruford College in the UK, where she also teaches lighting design and creative lighting control. Sofia has previously served as a Lecturer in Lighting at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and an Associate Professor in Lighting Design at the Theatre Department of the School of Fine Arts at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Her academic interests include the use of emerging technologies such as augmented and virtual reality in performing arts and practice-based research into the dramaturgical role of light.

She has also been involved with professional industry organisations; she has served in leadership roles with The Association for Lighting Production and Design, contributing to awards and educational programmes within the lighting community.

Sofia’s work with students brings together hands-on design practice, critical inquiry, and research-informed teaching. She consistently encourages emerging lighting designers to challenge conventions, question assumptions, and think beyond established norms. At the heart of her approach is the creation of a supportive and exploratory learning environment—one where students feel empowered to experiment, take creative risks, and push the boundaries of their imagination and practice.