DEBUT/Horizon Project
Live Streamed Opera Scenes from the Aldridge Theatre, Surrey
Youtube Live Stream | Join us on Thursday 17th December at 8pm via DEBUT’s Youtube Channel
DEBUT/Horizon Project brings together some of the UK’s most exciting musicians in a filmed showcase of opera scenes and behind-the-scenes interviews.
Co-produced by mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries and DEBUT’s founder, soprano Lizzie Holmes, under the baton of former Royal Opera House Jette Parker Artist, Thomas Payne, our singers and instrumentalists share performances from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Rossini’s Cenerentola, Bellini’s Norma and I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and Bernstein’s Candide.
DEBUT/Horizon Project at Aldridge Theatre
The Horizon Project will be live-streamed in December, 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. It we be filmed by videographer Bobby Williams in the beautiful Aldridge Theatre in the heart of Surrey.
With the introduction of the latest national lockdown, a new wave of performances have been 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.
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.
The Team
Lizzie Holmes soprano & founder of DEBUT
Ella Joy soprano
Camilla Kerslake soprano
Joanna Harries mezzo-soprano & co-producer
Charlotte Diamond mezzo-soprano
Dominic Bevan tenor
Guy Elliott tenor
Kieran Rayner baritone
Andrew Tipple bass-baritone
Thomas Payne conductor
Eleanor Burke director
Thomas Ang piano
Sofia Castillo flute
Patrick Davies clarinet
Bobby Williams sound and film
“Audiences are left with open eyes and a thirst for discovering more”
“A great introduction to some of the best talent”
Lizzie and Jo chat about how it was co-producing DEBUT's largest project to date! - our first project specifically for film!
Help Support Us
“Jo and I 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.”
Big love and thanks,
Lizzie xx
Frensham Heights School in Surrey, home of the Aldridge Theatre
Thank You
Aldridge Theatre
at Frensham Heights School
St Margaret’s Church, Putney
National Opera Studio
St Margaret’s Church, Putney - where rehearsals for DEBUT/Horizon Project took place
Without the support of Frensham Heights School, Surrey and St Margaret’s Church, Putney this project would not have been able to go ahead.
We are hugely grateful to the support of Frensham Heights School in Surrey for enabling this project to go ahead and allowing us to use the Aldridge Theatre in these extraordinary times. Following in her Granny’s footsteps, Lizzie was at Frensham Heights School from the age of 10-18. A proud Old Frenshamian, she has returned on a number of occasions, as their Founders’ Day Guest Speaker in 2018, for a special musical evening in 2020, for careers events and to lead workshops for the music and theatre departments. A special thank you to Amanda Liddle, Sean Connor, James Casselton, James Bell and Frensham’s headmaster Rick Clarke.