About Em Moore

Em Moore (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary lighting designer based in Los Angeles and originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. They are currently completing their MFA in Lighting Design for Theatre and Live Events at UCLA. Em began designing lighting in high school, shaped by early and sustained exposure to theatre, music, dance, and visual art across the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Em's work spans theatre, opera, dance, and live music, with a particular interest in how light shapes movement, time, and perception. They approach lighting as a system of ideas rather than a collection of tools, using structure, rhythm, and visual logic to support performance, clarify intention, and guide the audience's point of view.

Alongside their design practice, Em has served as a Teaching Assistant in UCLA's lighting program for three years, supporting undergraduate instruction and studio work. Teaching has sharpened their interest in how lighting ideas are communicated, translated, and sustained across different levels of experience and across disciplines. After participating in the ACT grandMA3 programming competition, Em built a dedicated previsualization studio at UCLA using Depence software, integrating it into both EOS-based theatrical workflows and emerging MA-based concert workflows.

Em has worked across a wide range of venues throughout Los Angeles, including academic and regional theatres, performance spaces, and live music environments. This breadth of experience has reinforced their interest in collaborative, process-driven work and in adapting lighting systems to the specific demands of each space.

At the core of Em's practice is a belief that lighting functions best as a conversation, responsive to music, movement, architecture, and the people inhabiting the space. They are drawn to environments where observation, care, and long-term thinking shape the work, and where lighting serves not as singular authorship, but as an integral part of a larger artistic system.