Born in
Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman was a
boy soprano in the Columbus Boychoir, currently known as the
American Boychoir, attending the school in Princeton, New Jersey. With that group he toured the United States, Canada, and Japan. Other performance opportunities as a child performer followed, including the lead role of Peter in “Peter, the Chorister” on the CBS-TV series
Look Up and Live in 1966. His other work as a boy soprano included soloing in
The Chichester Psalms with the
New York Philharmonic under the baton of
Leonard Bernstein at Philharmonic Hall, performances as Jano in
Jenufa with the New York Little Orchestra Society, the First Spirit in the acclaimed Beni Montresor production of
The Magic Flute, starring Beverly Sills, John Reardon, conducted by Julius Rudel at
New York City Opera (NYCO), and a solo appearance on NBC-TV
The Bell Telephone Hour. In 1977, he previously appeared as Little Bat in Floyd's
Susannah at the
Lyric Opera of Kansas City, a company with which he subsequently performed often. In 1980 Freeman portrayed Leo Hubbard in
Marc Blitzstein's
Regina at the HGO. Other roles with HGO included Tamino, Don Ramiro, Count Ory, Almaviva, Leandro, Schmidt, Valzacchi, and Silas Barnaby. In June 1982 he created the role of Katz in the world premiere of
Stephen Paulus's
The Postman Always Rings Twice at the
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL). He subsequently performed the role of Katz at the
Edinburgh Festival, in its European debut, and the
Boston Lyric Opera. In 1984 he returned to the OTSL to portray Hot Biscuit Slim in Britten's
Paul Bunyan directed by Colin Graham. In October 1982 he made his adult debut with the NYCO as Alfredo in Verdi's
La traviata with
Diana Soviero as Violetta. He subsequently returned to the NYCO as Fritz in
Jacques Offenbach's
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein and Nanki-Poo in
The Mikado. He performed several times at
Carnegie Hall, and, in 1984 he appeared at Avery Fisher Hall as Zadok the High Priest and the Levite in Handel's
Solomon with
Musica Sacra, starring Kathleen Battle. In 1990 Freeman recorded the role of Don Ottavio in
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Don Giovanni for ORF television with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the
Arnold Schoenberg Choir, and conductor
Craig Smith for
Decca. The work reset
Don Giovanni in 1990s
South Bronx, was directed by
Peter Sellars, and was broadcast internationally on
PBS'
Great Performances, ORF, and
BBC Television. He also appeared with Sellars' production in New York and Paris. Freeman was featured on Pro Arte's
H.M.S. Gilbert & Sullivan, praised by
CD Review as "one of the best CDs of 1990". Freeman's other performance credits as a tenor include appearances in leading roles with
Atlanta Opera,
Baltimore Opera,
Florida Grand Opera,
Kentucky Opera,
Michigan Opera Theater,
Minnesota Opera,
New Orleans Opera,
Opera Omaha,
Opera Pacific,
Portland Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and
San Diego Opera among others. He has also appeared in concerts with Eduardo Mata and the
Dallas Symphony, with Leonard Slatkin and the
St. Louis Symphony, Sergiù Comissiona and the Houston Symphony, the
Minnesota Orchestra, the
National Symphony Orchestra, and the
Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. Opera and music festivals where Freeman has been featured include Pepsico Summerfare, ArtPark, Central City Opera, Wolf Trap, Chautauqua Opera, Lake George Opera, Saratoga Springs, and Des Moines Metro Opera, where he starred in two Iowa Public Television broadcasts. His most notable accomplishment among his several Asian performances is the Japanese premiere of
Joruri by Minoru Miki (and Colin Graham). Freeman has directed operas for the
El Paso Opera, the
Lyric Opera of Dallas,
Knoxville Opera,
Mobile Opera,
Nashville Opera,
Opera Grand Rapids,
Phoenix Opera, Mississippi Opera, and
Tulsa Opera among others. International and American programs where he has directed and taught include the
American Institute of Musical Studies, Graz, Austria;
La Musica Lirica, Novafeltria, Italy; the Greek Opera Studio of the Aegean Festival, Athens and Syros, Greece; the Festival of International Opera, Campinas, Brazil; Beveren Summer Singing Course, Antwerp, Belgium; the
MusikHochschule Lübeck, Germany; Rising Star Vocal Works, Rising Sun, IN; and OBVI, Wichita Falls, TX. His dedication to the training of young operatic artists has taken him to Cleveland Institute, UMKC, Kansas University, SFASU, and OCU, and he is a frequent judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has twice been honored with National Opera Institute Awards, given by Beverly Sills and Hal Prince, with a Presidential Citation from the National Federation of Music Clubs, and
Classical Singer magazine as their "2010 Stage Director of the Year". He is currently the Valerie Adams Distinguished Professor of Opera Studies at Georgia State University, where he also serves as artistic director for the Harrower Summer Opera Workshop. ==References==