East Studio Building, JS436
Education
- D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, Eastman School of Music, 1972
- M.M., Master of Music, Eastman School of Music, 1970
Biography
Don Freund is professor of music in composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he has been on faculty since 1992. His students from a 50-year teaching career continue to win an impressive array of awards and recognitions.
He has been described as “a composer thoughtful in approach and imaginative in style” (The Washington Post), whose music is “exciting, amusing, disturbing, beautiful, and always fascinating” (Music and Musicians, London). He is an internationally recognized composer with works ranging from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronic instruments, music for dance, and large theater works. Many of his works are available on commercial CD.
The recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship, Freund has served as guest composer at a vast array of universities and music festivals, and presented master classes throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America. He is also active as a pianist, conductor, and lecturer.
As a festival coordinator, he has programmed over 1,000 new American works. He has been conductor or pianist in the performance of some 200 new pieces, usually in collaboration with the composer.
Freund’s piano concert repertoire extends from new music to complete performances of Bach’s TheWell-Tempered Clavier and his own pianistic realizations of Machaut. He has performed his Earthdance Concerto with numerous university wind ensembles.
Up-to-date news on works and performances as well as videos, audio files, and pdf scores of over 100 of his compositions can be found at DonFreund.com.