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DEBUT's Horizon Project

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“We put this project together in just three weeks (a fraction of the time we’d usually take to plan any normal DEBUT project), but we needed to. We couldn’t do another lockdown with nothing to work on, to inspire us and to bring together our fellow musicians. We have managed to put the project together on an incredibly tight shoe-string budget - and are so grateful to the venues and professionals who have helped make this possible - but there are still costs involved. We know times are tough for everyone, but if you are able to help us by supporting us and the project we have created, we would be immensely grateful.” - Co-Producers Lizzie & Joanna

ABOUT THE PROJECT
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DEBUT/Horizon Project brings together some of the UK’s most exciting musicians in a filmed showcase of opera scenes and behind-the-scenes insights. Under the baton of Thomas Payne (ROH Jette Parker Artist) our singers and instrumentalists share performances by Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi.

Not just a standard concert, our special performance delves behind the music to explore the stories behind the operas, and meet the artists. Filmed by sound and film engineer Bobby Williams in the beautiful Aldridge Theatre in Surrey, it will be live streamed to audiences from December 17th 2020, as well as shared with a wider audience of care homes and community groups through our partner organisations including Opera Holland Park's Inspire Programme.

DEBUT/Horizon Project looks to the future of our opera industry, ensuring that our musicians are prepared for performance when the industry is able to get back on its feet, and that our audiences are wider, more diverse and more engaged than ever before.

Watch the livestream here from 17 December 2020:
DEBUT/Horizon Project on Youtube 


BEHIND THE HORIZON PROJECT - LIVE CHAT 
With co-producers Lizzie Holmes and Joanna Harries



THE TEAM
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Thomas Payne   conductor
Thomas Ang   piano
Sofia Castillo   flute
Patrick Davies   clarinet

Lizzie Holmes, Ella Joy, Camilla Kerslake   soprano
Joanna Harries, Charlotte Diamond, mezzo-soprano
Dominic Bevan, Guy Elliott   tenor
Kieran Rayner, Andrew Tipple   baritone & bass-baritone

Eleanor Burke   director
Bobby Williams   sound & film


THE MUSIC
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Mozart   Don Giovanni
Bellini   Norma
Bellini   I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Verdi   Rigoletto
Donizetti   L’Elisir d’Amore
Rossini   La Cenerentola
Bernstein  Candide


WHY?
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With the introduction of the latest national lockdown, a new wave of performances was cancelled. As professional musicians, we recognise how important it is for our mental health and professional careers to have projects to work on and share with audiences - so when our latest show was cancelled we decided to put together a project that was viable in these times.

We also wanted our music-making to reach those audiences and communities most cut off from music during the past nine months. We are working hard to ensure it benefits as diverse a range of communities as possible – from care homes to community groups, hospices and education settings – by working with our partner music outreach organisations. Our ethos is to engage people with a friendly and personal performance, where they get to know our artists as well as the music and stories they will be watching.


ABOUT DEBUT
============

DEBUT.org.uk 

Featured in Classical Music Magazine as ‘a great introduction to some of the best talent’, DEBUT showcases the most exciting emerging musicians from around the world. Hosted by soprano Lizzie Holmes the series has showcased over 150 musicians since it launched in 2017, from opera singers to harpists, string quartets to classical guitar duos.

We love sharing exceptional music in a less formal way and we encourage audiences to get to know the personalities behind the music. We’ve been featured by Steinway & Sons, Opera Now, Dorset Living and Classical Music Magazine, and recent highlights include a string of concerts with the Royal Opera House, collaborations with the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, the Old Operating Theatre and an ongoing partnership with the Shoreditch Treehouse.


OUR ARTISTS
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Our stellar line-up of singers and instrumentalists have performed around the globe. Conductor Thomas Payne joined the Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House in 2018 and recently made his Scottish Ballet debut, while American mezzo-soprano and Julliard graduate Julia Mintzer recently starred as the title role in Carmen with Welsh National Opera.

Award-winning Kiwi baritone Kieran Rayner is an Independent Opera Fellow (2019-20) and won the Garsington Opera Simon Sandbach Award in 2019, while king of patter Andrew Tipple has performed roles with English Touring Opera, Garsington Opera and Wexford Festival.

Our tenors Guy Elliott and Dominic Bevan have both recently made Wigmore Hall debuts. Guy won the Britten-Pears Award at the prestigious Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and Dominic was a finalist in the 2019 Wagner Society competition at Wigmore Hall.

Thomas Ang was répétiteur for the first-ever Wagner production in Singapore (Die fliegender Holländer) and the Russian premiere of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence. Clarinettist Patrick Davies graduated with distinction from GSMD, having performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and at Shanghai Opera House. Solo performances have taken flautist Sofia Castillo around the world and she is also a Concordia Artist.


THE PRODUCERS 
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LIZZIE HOLMES    soprano

www.lizzieholmes.com 

“Holmes makes a fabulous Poppea. Playful, but brimming with erotic power. A magnetic performance.”
— Bachtrack (The Coronation of Poppea)

“Lizzie Holmes is enchanting, her broad infectious smile and creamy soprano making the final revelation all the more shocking”
— Planet Hugill (La bohème)

Lizzie Holmes is a freelance soprano, graduate of the Royal College of Music and founder of DEBUT. She has worked as a soloist for Grange Park Opera, Longborough Festival, Wexford Festival, Raymond Gubbay in the Oliver Nominated La Boheme and on the West End in musical theatre. Through DEBUT, Lizzie champions sharing classical music in a more intimate and less formal way.


JOANNA HARRIES    mezzo-soprano

www.joannaharries.com 

“Harries sang with conviction and emotional force” 
— Neil Fisher, The Times

"Throughout the performance, Harries’s robust mezzo-soprano adroitly navigated the shifting moods and keys of the piece...redolent of Salome in her final moments.”
—  Timmy Fisher, Bachtrack

Joanna Harries is a graduate of Cambridge University, the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has performed with Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera Holland Park, Grange Park Opera, Longborough Opera and British Youth Opera and is a Britten-Pears Young Artist. She also works extensively in outreach, leading workshops and interactive concerts for all ages, including for the Royal Opera House “Opera Dots” programme.

DEBUT.org.uk | #DEBUThorizon

Fundraising team: Lizzie & Joanna (Team DEBUT) (2)

Lizzie Holmes
Organizer
Joanna Harries
Team member

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