Leo Varga is a lighting designer based in Toronto whose work spans theatre, opera, and live music. Born in Budapest and trained initially as an electrical engineer, he emigrated to Canada in his mid-twenties and found his way into theatre through an internship at the Stratford Festival that was meant to last six weeks and stretched into four years. His designs are known for their architectural clarity and their responsiveness to performance — light that serves story rather than imposes on it. He has designed for the National Arts Centre, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as for productions at the Edinburgh Fringe and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He received the Ember Award for Outstanding Lighting Design in 2019 and 2022.
