Check out our Q&A with composer Lewis Murphy. Lewis is Glyndebourne’s youngest ever Composer-in-Residence – a position he held until the end of 2017. His other recent commissions have been for Scottish Opera and the National Opera Studio, as well as our very own DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse with soprano Gemma Summerfield. He chats to us about his collaboration with librettist and director Laura Attridge, his biggest inspirations and what it’s like to be a composer in the 21st century.

See all the photos from our DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse concert, April 2019

Musicians

Ricardo Panela baritone
Patrick Davies clarinet
Juliane Gallant piano
Chris Hotson piano
Sam Peña resident piano improvisor

Hosted by Lizzie Holmes soprano

A year on from when OKIEM joined us for DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse as our special guest, we wanted to catch up on what the pianist/composer is up to now and share our exclusive live recording of him for DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse.

OKIEM is a pianist & composer who's music is described as "cinematic classical”. He creates his signature sound by combining piano, orchestral instruments and synthesizers.

See all the photos from our DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse concert in March 2019

Musicians

Lorena Paz Nieto soprano
Malachy Frame baritone
Riccardo Pes cello
Satoshi Kubo piano
Sam Pena Improvisor Pianist

Hosted by Lizzie Holmes, soprano

See all the photos from our DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse concert in February 2019

Musicians

Samantha Crawford soprano
Morgan Pearse baritone
Lisa Bucknell viola
Chad Vindin piano
Sam Peña resident piano improvisor
Lizzie Holmes soprano & host

We spoke to soprano Elizabeth Karani, who is currently working at the Royal Opera in Gavin Higgins and Francesca Simon’s The Monstrous Child.

“I’ve been really interested in contemporary works for a few years now and have always sought out opportunities to perform and be involved in new pieces. Somehow the casting team at ROH must have heard this and so invited me to audition and, of course, I jumped at the chance, I devoured Francesca’s book and coached my extracts to death before the audition and…

See all the photos from our DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse concert in January 2019

Musicians

Gemma Summerfield soprano
Kieran Rayner baritone
Vicky Yuan-Labarre flute
Tiago Gomes classical guitar
Gamal Khamis piano
Sam Peña Resident Improvisor Pianist

Hosted by Lizzie Holmes soprano

We spoke to tenor Joel Williams, currently at the Royal College of Music International Opera Studio, about awards, dream roles and all things singing.

Joel is already in high demand and can list such companies as the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra de Paris amongst his employers.

South Korean-born New Zealand pianist Somi Kim is a highly accomplished, multi award-winning collaborative pianist. She works with singers and instrumentalists in instrumental chamber music, opera and more.

This month she recently completed a 7-concert tour of New Zealand with the NZTrio. The programme was entitled Twine and was described by The Big Idea as delivering 'virtuosic skill and an affable, accessible stage presence in equal measures’

We spoke to Thomas Isherwood and Harry Thatcher ahead of their performances as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal College of Music.

Both baritones are at the early stages of extremely promising careers and are already in demand throughout the UK. Thomas recently starred as 'Mark' in the Olivier Nominated 'Best New Opera' La bohèmeat the Trafalgar Studios with King's Head Theatre and Harry has performed a number of roles for Grange Park Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera including Curio in Giulio Cesare.

Launching DEBUT’s new Instagram Takeover Series we asked rising star saxophonist Manu Brazo to take us along with him for his week rehearsing with the Britten-Pears Orchestra in Aldeburgh, Suffolk! Preparing Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Ballet conducted by Marin Alsop for the Snape BBC Proms.

Original article in The Stage Shoreditch by Cari Thomas “A penthouse treehouse… located in the middle of Shoreditch... containing a Steinway concert grand piano. A series of increasingly implausible statements. There’s another: this is the location of a monthly opera and classical music concert known as DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse.

You’ll find the treehouse just off Shoreditch’s busy Great Eastern Street. It is in fact a bohemian loft space on the top floor of an apartment building. However, step inside and it feels every bit a treehouse: an expanse of space, polished wooden floors, wooden ceilings, thick beams adorned with fairylights and brightly coloured Nepalese prayer flags, eclectic furniture and ornaments from around-the-world travels, green foliage and a large indoor olive tree. Throw in a hammock chair and a swing and you have been transported to the treetops of distant and magical woods.

I met with its owner Ross Elder to find out how…

Ahead of our first concert for Omnibus Theatre, Shakespearean Summers - the Poet and the Lover in Clapham (you can read more about the concert here) we chat to classical guitarist Eirian Lewis about why the music of the Renaissance still fascinates him today.

Original article in Opera Now by Coriander Stuttard “In an age of ‘pop-ups’, when restaurants, fashion and experiences spring up and then disappear, leaving yo wanting more, it’s not surprising that classical music has joined the trend. But for two classical music pop-up ventures, DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse and Classical Pop-Ups, there is much more behind them that a short-lived gimmick. And through ticketing partnerships with Airbnb they are finding they can suddenly reach out to new audiences who, in pop-up style, are left with open minds and a thirst for discovering more.

Lizzie Holmes, a 28-year-old soprano, founded DEBUT in 2015, inspired and helped by Philip Carne, founder of the Carne Trust, which supports young talent in the performing arts. Holmes wanted to showcase emerging singers…

On the day of our interview Ian is moving house – no small feat for the average man, let alone one with a Yamaha factored into the equation! - And yet, in a similar vein to how he approaches being interviewed whilst house moving, he can do it all – pianist, accompanist, répétiteur, organist, harpsichordist, and orchestral keyboard player - and all with the utmost finesse.

He'd wouldn't shout it from the rooftops, but Ian's won pretty much all of the major accompanist prizes (Ferrier Awards, Royal Overseas League, Help Musicians UK... the list goes on), and though musicality literally seeps from his fingertips, in person he's unassuming, funny and inherently - normal.

This week Ian is in Heidelberg, Germany, competing in the bi-annual International Song Competition 'Das Lied'