Matthew Adelson

Matthew Adelson has been the Production Manager for Five College Dance since 2015, where he supervises more than 25 concerts and events each year, on the campuses of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges, and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is also a lighting designer for theater, musical theater, dance, opera, concerts and live events.

He has worked extensively in the Berkshires, Pioneer and Hudson Valley’s, including lighting this season for 1776, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Summer 1976 and A Christmas Carol (Berkshire Theatre Group), iBoss (Great Barrington Public Theater) and A Number (Ancram Center for the Arts). He was awarded the 2025 Berkshire Theatre Critics Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for the Berkshire Theatre Group’s production for Metamorphoses.

Additional regional credits include Shakespeare & Company, Bardavon/Woodstock Playhouse, Chester Theatre Company, Theater at Monmouth, Barrington Stage Company, Berkshire Playwrights Lab, Theatreworks (Colorado Springs), Florida Studio Theatre, Spooky Action (Washington, DC), Merrimack Repertory Company, Portland Stage Company, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Westport Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, North Carolina Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, among many others.

Matthew's New York credits include the recent premieres of The Violin and Some Old Black Man, both at 59E59, and the recent revival of Fiorello!, at the 13th Street Theater (CSC). Additional work at: Aaron Davis Hall, the Adobe, Bank Street, Cherry Lane, Culture Project, Drama League, Grove Street, HERE, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, Lincoln Center Institute, McGinn Cazale, Mint, New Georges, Page 73, Provincetown Playhouse and the 78th Street Theatre Lab.

From 2005 to 2014, Matthew was the Director of Production and Lighting Designer for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (Great Barrington, MA), where he created the lighting for over 200 concerts and events for such artists as: James Taylor, Natalie Merchant, Suzanne Vega, Robert Cray, Los Lobos, Indigo Girls, Rufus Wainwright, Cowboy Junkies, Dr. John, Fab Faux, Chris Botti, Dianne Reeves, McCoy Tyner, Angelique Kidjo, Natalie MacMaster, Joan Rivers, Paula Poundstone, Freddie Roman, John Pizzarelli, Barbara Cook, Barbara Carroll, Bebe Neuwirth, Donna McKechnie, Michael Feinstein, Deborah Voigt, Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma. 

He was also the Production Manager for the annual Yidstock Festival of New Yiddish Music, at the Yiddish Book Center from 2012 to 2023 and the Lighting Designer for the Dance Department at Williams College from 2006 to 2015. Matthew also served as the Production Coordinator for the Dance Department at the Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) from 2001 to 2005.

Matthew holds an MFA in design from the Yale School of Drama and a BA in theatre and history from the University at Albany. He is a member of the United Scenic Artists (IATSE Local USA 829). His work can be seen at: MatthewAdelson.com