Discover one of London’s best kept secrets - DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse - the acclaimed classical music experience held in a magical bohemian loft space in Central London. This intimate and fun night is like no concert you’ve experienced before, DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse offers awe-inspiring performances, time to chat to your favourite musicians and the chance to feel at home in the heart of the city.
You’ll be greeted at the door by the Shoreditch Treehouse team, invited to grab a craft beer or some bubbles and take in the amazing space. Surrounded by hundreds of fairy lights and beneath the vaulted wooden ceiling draped with plants and a swing, our resident piano improviser Sam Peña sets the tone for a spontaneous night ahead - mashing up your favourite tunes with Bach, Mozart and Liszt. Then it’s time to gather round our Steinway 9-foot concert grand piano, sit back, relax and enjoy some of the most exciting musicians from around the world, compèred by DEBUT’s own Lizzie Holmes.
Launched in 2017, DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse has hosted over 50 sold out concerts showcasing over 150 musicians, including up and coming talent as well as fully fledged stars. Split into three parts of 30 minutes the night features 5 extraordinary musicians (different every month) sharing their favourite pieces from the world of classical music, opera and musical theatre as well as stories from their careers. With over four hundred 5* reviews from around the world already, this is an experience not to be missed!
December’s Musicians
Lizzie Holmes soprano & host
William Wallace tenor
William Jack cello
Sam Peña piano improviser
Florent Mourier piano
Programme
Part I 23’
Ross Introduction
Rigoletto - Questa o quella by Verdi - Will & Florent 4’
Lizzie Introduction
Die Fledermaus - The Laughing Song - Lizzie & Florent 4’
Notes & Numbers - Sam 6’
Stonehenge by Peter Pejtsik - William Jack 5'
Wonderwall by Oasis - Reimagined by William Jack - 4'
Part II 33’30
Rigoletto - La Donna è mobile by Verdi - Will & Florent 2’30
La Traviata - Parigi o cara - Verdi - Will, Lizzie & Florent 4’30
Morgen by Strauss - Lizzie & Florent 3’
Black Run by Svante Henryson - William Jack 4'
Dolcissimo by Pēteris Vasks - William Jack 5'
Annabelle lee by Leslie - Will & Florent 3’30
Improv on a Random Key - Sam 6’
Girl in 14 G by Jeanine Tesori (made famous by Kristin Chenoweth) - Lizzie & Sam 5’
Part III 24’5
Pirates of Penzance - Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast by Gilbert & Sullivan - Will & Florent 6’
The Merry Widow - Vilja by Lehár - Lizzie & Florent 5’30
Mystery Mash-up - Sam 6’
Theresa's Groove by Matthias Bartolomey - William Jack 4'
La Traviata - Brindisi - Verdi - Will, Lizzie & Florent 3’
Biographies
Lizzie Holmes soprano
British soprano Lizzie Holmes was born in Dorset and grew up in Ethiopia, Hong Kong and Australia. Praised for her “infectious smile and creamy soprano” her recent roles have included Cunegonde in Candide for Bernstein at 100 at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, Laurette in Bizet’s Doctor Miracle for Wexford Opera in Ireland, Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel for Grange Park Opera, Destino in La Calisto for Longborough Festival Opera and both Mimi and Musetta in the Olivier Award nominated ‘Best New Opera’ La bohème at the Trafalgar Studios for King’s Head Theatre in the West End.
After reading English Literature at Warwick University, Lizzie was offered places at all 5 top conservatoires in the UK. She graduated from London’s Royal College of Music with Distinction straight into her West End debut in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 2014, a year later she founded DEBUT. Recent solo recitals include the Royal Opera House, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Royal Albert Hall, and Cadogan Hall with the Bands of the Household Division. Lizzie makes major concert hall debuts across the UK as the Soprano Soloist for Raymond Gubbay’s Johann Strauss Gala Tour, including the Viennese New Year’s Eve Gala 2019 at the Barbican Hall.
William Jack cello
William Jack is an Australian Cellist, Guitarist and Composer who explores multiple genres and styles. He began performing at age 10 as a virtuosic guitar soloist with Adelaide orchestras and rock bands. He later studied Jazz guitar with Mike Bevan and obtained various ensemble opportunities including a scholarship to the Julliard Winter Jazz School.
William studied cello at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Georg Pedersen. He pursued further study in Vienna with Maria Sellner at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. William’s classical music engagements have been extensive and included prestigious venues such as the Musikverein Golden Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus and the Sydney Opera House. He has obtained various awards and guidance from notable artists such as David Geringas, Thomas Demenga, Natalie Clein and Wen-Sinn Yang. William’s niche is his ability to incorporate his guitar background into a progressive style of cello playing. He performed twice as a Jazz cello soloist and guest with orchestra at the International Cello Festival in Rutesheim and his rock-fueled cello compositions have gained high praise from numerous contemporary artists including Giovanni Sollima.
As a songwriter, William has composed over 100 songs for bands and solo playing. Since the release of his single “Keep Away” in 2018, he has continued to pursue a passion for producing new music. William moved to London late 2018 to base himself as a British/Australian musician. He is currently collaborating with British Franco-Chinese violinist Laure Chan and working in the west end. William aims to expand the musical capabilities of the cello and break down barriers between genres and cultures.
DEBUT
Founded by soprano Lizzie Holmes in 2015, DEBUT celebrates the UK’s brightest musicians through intimate and alternative classical concerts and events. Their internationally renowned monthly concert series ‘DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse’ has showcased over 150 musicians and has been featured in Opera Now and Classical Music Magazine as ‘a great introduction to some of the best talent’.
Recent performers include saxophonist Manu Brazo (BBC Introducing Artist); baritone Julien Van Mellaerts (New Zealand representative for Cardiff Singer of the World 2019) and pianist Sunny Li (Steinway Artist). DEBUT has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Proms on the Roof, Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, St James’ Piccadilly, the Old Operating Theatre and runs a private music series for the Birley Clubs in Mayfair. From Autumn 2019 they launch a new series at the Cutty Sark, supported by The Carne Trust.
William Wallace tenor
William Wallace, winner of the 2016 London Handel Singing Competition, graduated from the National Opera Studio and the Royal College of Music. William has worked with eminent conductors including Laurence Cummings, William Christie, Jorg Straube, Anthony Negus, Brian Kay and Julian Perkins.
William made his acclaimed debut at Longborough Festival Opera last June as Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer and performed the role of Grimoaldo in Handel’s Rodelinda with the Cambridge Handel Opera Company.
During 2019 William performed Belfiore in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera with Israeli Opera and will return in 2020 to perform the role of Beppe in Pagliacci. He performed Haydn’s Creation in Athens with Brian Kay, and the evangelist and tenor soloist in St. Matthew Passion in Hannover Maktkirche with Jorg Straube, Easter 2019. He has recently recorded a concert performance of Margaret Catchpole: Two Worlds Apart, at Snape Maltings, and created the role of Claudius, in a new contempory opera, I Claudius, touring Spain. Recently, William sang Tamino in Die Zauberflote for Opera de Baugé, and will be returning in 2020 to sing Alfredo in La Traviata. This Autumn he will perform the role of Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di siviglia for Opera Project in Bristol.
He has made two appearances on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune singing Handel and Britten, and also as soloist in Messiah in the Albert Hall and at St George’s Hanover Square for the London Handel Society.
Florent Mourier piano
Florent Mourier is a French concert pianist specialised in song and opera repertoire. Florent is an active recitalist, he has played at the Wigmore Hall, the Barbican Hall, Milton Court, St John’s Smith Square in London, Festival d’Aix and Fondation Royaumont in France, Utrecht’s Tivoli Vredenburg and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in the Netherlands. Florent now works as a staff pianist and vocal coach at the Guildhall School of Music, the National Opera Studio and for the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House.
Sam Peña piano improviser
Sam started playing the piano at the age of 15, after being a flutist for nearly 6 years before. He mainly studied the classical piano tradition, and only recently he has been attracted to the field of improvisation. After beginning the Guildhall Artist Master’s in piano performance in 2017, he realized his passion was not to be a classical soloist. With the help of the staff and teachers of the School he modified his Master’s to accommodate his improvisational and compositional aspirations. Since then he has been improvising, composing and trying to find his own path bringing his music onto the stage as a solo performer.
Sam currently has a Fellowship in Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he is developing his voice as a composer, improviser and experimenter.
Known for wearing shoes of different colours he is also DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse’s much loved resident pianist 2019/2020.
“Audiences are left with open eyes and a thirst for discovering more”
“Intimate, alternative, engaging”