Yung-Hung Sung

Yung-Hung Sung is a New York based lighting and scenic designer originally from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. With over 90 productions to his credit, Sung has collaborated with a wide range of theatre artists and companies across the globe. His work has been seen at major venues and festivals including the National Theater of Taiwan, National Taichung Theater, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (UK), Festival d’Avignon Off (France), Proyector Festival (Spain), Beijing Dance Festival, Shanghai International Arts Festival (China), Migration Matters Festival (UK), and the ChangMu Performing Arts Festival (Korea), among others.

Sung’s designs have been recognized with several prestigious honors. Long River with WCdance was awarded the 13th Taishin Arts Award. Panta Rhei was nominated for Emerging Lighting Design at World Stage Design 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan, and Ten Lines of Poetry to NK with the Neo-Classic Chamber Ensemble received the Bronze Award for Professional Lighting Design at World Stage Design 2022 in Calgary, Canada. He holds an MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama (DGSD) and is the recipient of numerous scholarships, including the Jennifer Tipton Scholarship in Lighting, Stanley McCandless Scholarship, Donald and Zorka Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design, William and Sarah Hyman Scholarship, and the Government Scholarship to Study Abroad from Taiwan’s Ministry of Education.

With the urgency to respond to unfolding global events, Sung approaches design through a panoramic lens that embraces all sectors. He finds the uniqueness and essence of live performance lie in its frameless, immediate, multidimensional impact on its perceivers. For him, scenography is not merely a visual framework but a medium through which the human condition can be dissected, inner dialogues awakened, and personal statements declared, opening pathways to profound conversations and revealing even the most evasive conflicts. Sung believes that the emotional connection forged between performers and audiences ultimately transcends sophisticated language, intellectual concepts, or dazzling visual effects. Indeed, His faith is that a truly thought-provoking performance can arise from the simplest conditions, even on a bare stage, without a single design element.