Vyacheslav Okunev, set and costumes designer, was born in Russia. Since graduating from the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinema (now the St. Petersburg Academy of Dramatic Art) in 1979 he started working as a designer in all Russian opera houses and has designed over 350 productions of opera and ballet. Among his productions are Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart), La traviata (Verdi), Carmen (Bizet), Yevgeni Onegin (Tchaikovsky), Suor Angelica, Tosca (Puccini), Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky), Giselle (Adam) and many others. He has also designed for La Scala, Arena di Verona,, Vienna Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper and many other international opera houses. This is his first work at the Israeli Opera.