About

Sven grew up in Cologne, Germany, where he lit small-scale theatre shows after high school, complemented with lighting for movies, advertisements, and music videos.  His subsequent studies of theatrical lighting design in London led him to develop a keen interest in digital technologies and their potential for the live arts

In 2001 he joined up with Dick Straker and his company mesmer to explore and further the use of imagery and projection in the live arts. For the National Theatre, London mesmer provided realization and design services for over 20 productions and established a video department that introduced technologies and techniques that have become de-facto standards today. Together with Straker he also conceived the video system and process that realized the technologically groundbreaking musical The Woman in White in the west end and Broadway in 2004.

In the last 23 years, Ortel's work has been seen worldwide. His range of collaborators comprises some of the most established and celebrated artists ranging from directors Michael Blakemore, Simon McBurney, Gregory Boyd, Matthias Hartman, Jonathan Kent, David Leveaux, Trevor Nunn, Deborah Warner, Bart Sher, Julie Taymor, and Francesca Zambello to choreographer Helgi Tomasson, and set designer George Tsypin.

With the UK company complicite, namely 2004‘s Measure For Measure and 2008‘s A Disappearing Number he achieved new degrees of integration between lighting, imagery, live video, and physical sets. Both shows also toured worldwide to universal acclaim. Other notable projects include Swan Lake for San Francisco Ballet, the re-staging of the Kirov Ring Cycle under maestro Valerie Gergiev in St.Petersburg, Russia, and the Royal Opera House as well as the musical Rebecca in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, Disney's Newsies at the Papermill Playhouse and Broadway, the off-Broadway production of Carrie and Julie Taymor’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at TFANA’s new home in downtown Brooklyn.

Other Broadway design credits include Jumpers, Faith Healer, Deuce, Disney's The Little Mermaid, Woman On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, Wonderland, and Thoughts Of A Colored Man.

Recent projects include the new Musical Maybe Happy Ending in Atlanta, the broadway-bound Once Upon A One More Time in Washington D.C, and the installation NHKS4220 at Artechouse

In 2012 he was nominated for a TONY award for his work on Newsies and for drama desk awards in 2014 for Julie Taymor’s Midsummer as well as 2021 for Thoughts Of A Colored Man. He won a 2018 Suzie Bass award for his work on Candide in Atlanta.

To foster the future of his profession, Sven mentors young projection designers gives master classes and has created an online resource for projection design (www.projctn.com). He is a professor of practice at ASU and teaches at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.