Music
Paul Freeman
1936–2015 · conductor
African American conductor who was associate conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 1970 to 1979 and first led its new youth orchestra before founding the Chicago Sinfonietta.
- Born
Richmond, Virginia- Died
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
aged 79- Birth name
- Paul Douglas Freeman
- Detroit years
- 1970–1979
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Freeman, who studied at the Eastman School and conducted under Pierre Monteux's guidance, came to Detroit in 1970 from the Dallas Symphony as associate conductor of the DSO, one of very few Black conductors on the staff of a major American orchestra at the time. That year the orchestra launched the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra as a training ensemble, with Freeman as its first conductor. He spent nine seasons in the city, mostly at the riverfront Ford Auditorium, leading education, community and pops concerts as well as subscription programs. In the same years he conducted the Black Composers Series for Columbia Records, which brought works by composers such as William Grant Still and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to records. In 1987 he founded the Chicago Sinfonietta, dedicated to diversity in classical music, and led it until 2011; he also headed the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague.
Highlights
- Associate conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1970–1979
- First conductor of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra (1970)
- Conducted Columbia's Black Composers Series recordings
- Founded the Chicago Sinfonietta in 1987
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1970–1979
Ford Auditorium
Demolished · 1956–2011
The DSO's riverfront home during Freeman's nine seasons as associate conductor; demolished in 2011.