Robert Freeman

Robert Freeman received his undergraduate degree in music at Harvard in 1957, concurrently completing a diploma in piano at the Longy School and studying during the summers of 1955 and 1956 with Artur Balsam and Rudolf Serkin. After a year in Europe on one of Harvard's Sheldon Traveling Fellowships, he earned MFA and PhD degrees in musicology at Princeton, where he joined the faculty in 1963. He served as assistant and associate professor at MIT during the period 1968-73, and in the fall of 1972 was appointed director of the Eastman School of Music, which he led from 1972 to 1996. Appointed president of the New England Conservatory in 1996, he moved to the University of Texas at Austin in 2000 as Dean of the College of Fine Arts, a position from which he stepped down in the fall of 2006. A Steinway artist since the mid 1970s, Freeman has performed as pianist in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and has recorded with colleagues both at Eastman and at UT. His honors include two years as a Fulbright fellow to Vienna, 1960-62; a Martha Baird Rockefeller grant in 1962-63; the Civic Medal of Rochester, New York, awarded in connection with his work on downtown revitalization; and an honorary DMA from Hamilton College. He has published on a variety of topics in 18th-century music history and on the history and future of the education of musicians. He has served on advisory councils for music and the arts at Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Howard, Middlebury, and Vanderbilt, and is a member of the boards of the Austin Symphony, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, and the National Center for Human Performance at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. He chairs the board of the Institute for Music and Brain Science at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital. At the University of Texas he holds the Susan Menefee Ragan Regents Professorship in Fine Arts.
Source: Butler School of Music website (Accessed 30 April 2008).

Physical description

The Robert Freeman Papers consist of approximately 5 lin. ft. (five record cartons), organized into ten series. The collection is comprised of paper files and a few photographs.

Provenance

This collection was generated by Robert Freeman during his tenure as President of NEC from 1997-1999. After Freeman's presidency, these materials were transferred from the President’s Office to the NEC Archives.

Access

Access to the Freeman Papers is granted by the Archivist. Appointments must be scheduled in advance. There are restrictions pertaining to this collection as determined by the Archivist and the Office of the President.

Copyright

All copyrights to this collection belong to the New England Conservatory. Permission to publish materials from this collection is granted by the Director of Libraries. This collection should be cited as: NECA 1.11. Robert Freeman Papers, New England Conservatory Archives, Boston, MA.
.

Scope & Content

The Robert Freeman collection is organized into the following ten series:

Correspondence/Memoranda
Academic Department Files
Administrative Department Files
Preparatory/Continuing Education Records
Board of Trustees Records
Committee Records -
Event Records
Subject/Project Files
Writings/Biographical Information
External Files

President Freeman’s Correspondence is organized into three types: General, Memoranda, and Student correspondence. The general correspondence is organized chronologically by year and the alphabetically within each year. The academic department files discuss the operation and curriculum of the various academic departments. There are individual faculty files interspersed throughout this series. One topic of interest in this series is the Thelonious Monk Institute which was in residence during Freeman’s tenure. The administrative department files document interaction between President Freeman and the various administrative departments of the NEC college division. The Preparatory/Continuing Education series contains only two folders concerning the operations of that division during Freeman’s presidency. The Board of Trustees records contain correspondence with the chairman of the board, other members of the board and the full board of trustees. The committee records document activities of committees active under Freeman. Several of these committees were established by Freeman’s office including the Artist/Teacher/Scholar Committee, the Audience Development Committee, the Repertory and Curriculum committees, etc. The event series is very small containing information on only two events, the primary one being Freeman’s inauguration as president of NEC. Included in the subject/project files are various topics including consultant visits, the Boston Music Education Collaborative, the NEC Five year plan, From the Top, Gunther Schuller recordings, the Huntington Brass Quintet, Walnut Hill and a photo of NEC founder, Eben Tourjee. The Writings/Biographical Information series includes NEC speeches/interviews, other articles, interviews and speeches, letters to the editor, general biographical information, and a few photographs. Freeman’s external files document NEC’s relationship with numerous outside organizations including Boston Conservatory, the Fenway Alliance, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, City on a Hill, National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), Project STEP, Seven Springs, and WGBH.

Container List

Series 1 : General Correspondence

Box 1 - Folder 1
Correspondence, 1996 and A, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 2
Correspondence B, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 3
Correspondence C, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 4
Correspondence D, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 5
Correspondence E, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 6
Correspondence F, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 7
Correspondence G, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 8
Correspondence H, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 9
Correspondence I-J, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 10
Correspondence K, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 11
Correspondence L, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 12
Correspondence M, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 13
Correspondence N, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 14
Correspondence O, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 15
Correspondence P, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 16
Correspondence R, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 17
Correspondence S, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 18
Correspondence T, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 19
Correspondence U-V, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 20
Correspondence W, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 21
Correspondence Y-Z, 1997
Box 1 - Folder 22
Correspondence A, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 23
Correspondence B, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 24
Correspondence C, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 25
Correspondence D, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 26
Correspondence E, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 27
Correspondence F, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 28
Correspondence G, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 29
Correspondence H, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 30
Correspondence I-J, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 31
Correspondence K, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 32
Correspondence L, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 33
Correspondence M, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 34
Correspondence N, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 35
Correspondence O-P, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 36
Correspondence R, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 37
Correspondence S, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 38
Correspondence T-U, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 39
Correspondence V-W, 1998
Box 1 - Folder 40
Correspondence Y-Z, 1998
Box 2 - Folder 1
Correspondence, A-F, 1999
Box 2 - Folder 2
Correspondence, G-N, 1999
Box 2 - Folder 3
Correspondence, P-Z, 1999

Series 1a: Memoranda

Box 2 - Folder 4
Memoranda, to NEC Community, 1996-1997
Box 2 - Folder 5
Memoranda, to NEC Community, 1998
Box 2 - Folder 6
Memoranda, to NEC Community, 1999
Box 2 - Folder 7
Memoranda, Personal file, 1997-1999

Series 1b: Student Correspondence

Box 2 - Folder 8
Student correspondence, General, A-H, 1996-1997
Box 2 - Folder 9
Student correspondence, General, L-Z, and petitions, 1997
Box 2 - Folder 10
Student correspondence, General, A-N, 1998-99
Box 2 - Folder 11
Student correspondence, General, P-Z, and petitions, 1998-1999
Box 2 - Folders 12 - 20
Student correspondence, Individual students

Series 2: Academic Department Files

Box 2 – Folder 21
Brass and Percussion
Box 2 – Folder 22
Chamber Music
Box 2 – Folder 23
Chorus
Box 2 - Folder 24
Composition
Box 2 - Folder 25
Conducting
Box 2 - Folder 26
Contemporary Improvisation
Box 2 - Folder 27
Guitar, Faculty - Eliot Fisk
Box 2 - Folder 28
Guitar, Faculty - David Leisner
Box 2 – Folder 29
Jazz/Improvisation
Box 2 – Folder 30
Liberal Arts
Box 2 – Folder 31
Music Education
Box 2 - Folder 32
Music Education, Faculty - Larry Scripp
Box 2 – Folder 33
Music History
Box 2 – Folder 34
Music History – Faculty – Helen Greenwald
Box 2 – Folder 35
Music History - Faculty – Anne Hallmark
Box 2 - Folder 36
Music History - Faculty - Joseph Horowitz
Box 2 – Folder 37
Music History – Faculty – Robert Labaree
Box 2 - Folder 38
Music History - Faculty - Gregory Smith
Box 2 – Folder 39
Opera
Box 2 - Folder 40
Opera, Faculty - John Moriarty
Box 2 – Folder 41
Orchestra
Box 2 - Folder 42
Orchestra, Faculty - Richard Hoenich
Box 2 – Folder 43
Organ
Box 2 - Folder 44
Organ, Faculty - Bill Porter
Box 2 – Folder 45
Piano
Box 2 – Folder 46
Piano, Faculty – Gabriel Chodos
Box 2 – Folder 47
Piano, Faculty - Veronica Jochum von Moltke
Box 2 – Folder 48
Piano, Faculty – Russell Sherman
Box 2 – Folder 49
Piano, Faculty – Patricia Zander
Box 2 – Folder 50
Strings
Box 2 - Folder 51
Strings, Faculty - Laurence Lesser
Box 2 – Folder 52
Theory (Graduate)
Box 2 – Folder 53
Theory (Undergraduate)
Box 2 – Folder 54
Theory, Faculty - Robert Cogan
Box 2 - Folder 55
Theory, Faculty - Richard Fletcher
Box 2 - Folder 56
Theory, Faculty - John Heiss
Box 2 - Folder 57
Theory, Faculty - James Hoffmann
Box 2 - Folder 58
Theory, Faculty - Steve Laitz
Box 2 - Folder 59
Theory, Faculty - Deborah Stein
Box 2 - Folder 60
Theory, Faculty - Yang Yong
Box 2 – Folder 61
Thelonious Monk Institute, 1996-1997
Box 2 – Folder 62
Thelonious Monk Institute, 1998-1999
Box 2 – Folder 63
Voice
Box 2 – Folder 64
Woodwinds
Box 2 - Folder 65
Woodwinds, Faculty - Kenneth Radnofsky
Box 2 - Folder 66
Woodwinds, Faculty - Paula Robison

Series 3: Administrative Departments

Box 3 - Folder 1
Admissions, 1997
Box 3 – Folder 2
Admissions, 1998
Box 3 – Folder 3
Alumni Relations
Box 3 – Folder 4
Building Operations
Box 3 – Folder 5
Career Services
Box 3 – Folder 6
Dean of Students
Box 3 – Folder 7
Development, 1997
Box 3 – Folder 8
Development, 1998-1999
Box 3 – Folder 9
Finance and Administration
Box 3 – Folder 10
Financial Aid
Box 3 – Folder 11
Human Resources
Box 3 – Folder 12
Institutional Advancement, Ron Schiller
Box 3 – Folder 13
Libraries
Box 3 - Folder 14
Music and Computer Studio
Box 3 – Folder 15
Performance Services
Box 3 – Folder 16
President’s Office - Budget
Box 3 – Folder 17
President’s Office – Discretionary Fund
Box 3 – Folder 18
President’s Office – Staff
Box 3 – Folder 19
Provost’s Office, 1997-1999
Box 3 – Folder 20
Public Relations
Box 3 – Folder 21
Residence Life
Box 3 – Folder 22
Registrar

Series 4: Preparatory/Continuing Education Division

Box 3 – Folder 23
Preparatory / Continuing Ed.
Box 3 – Folder 24
Preparatory / Continuing Ed., Faculty – Larry Scripp
Box 3 - Folder 25
Preparatory / Continuing Ed., Faculty - Confidential

Series 5: Board of Trustees and Overseers

Box 3 - Folder 26
Correspondence with Board of Trustees Chairman, David Scudder, 1997
Box 3 – Folder 27
Correspondence with Chairman, David Scudder, January – July 1998
Box 3 – Folder 28
Correspondence with Chairman, David Scudder, August – December 1998
Box 3 – Folder 29
Correspondence with Chairman, David Scudder, 1999
Box 3 – Folder 30
Memoranda to members of the Board, 1997-1999
Box 3 – Folder 31
Memoranda to full Board of Trustees and Overseers, 1997-1999

Series 6: Committee Records

Box 3 – Folder 32
General Committee records
Box 3 – Folder 33
Artist/Teacher/Scholar Committee
Box 3 – Folder 34
Audience Development Committee
Box 3 – Folder 35
Calendar Schedule Committee
Box 3 – Folder 36
Faculty Issues Committee
Box 3 – Folder 37
Faculty Segmentation Committee
Box 3 – Folder 38
Repertory and Curriculum Committee- College
Box 3 – Folder 39
Repertory and Curriculum Committee – Preparatory Division
Box 3 – Folder 40
Vocational and Avocational Committee
Box 3 – Folder 41
Diversity Committee – Paul Robeson Tribute
Box 3 – Folder 42
Division Heads
Box 3 – Folder 43
Strategic Planning Committee-Long Range
Box 3 – Folder 44
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Series 7: Event Records

Box 3 – Folder 45
Freeman’s Inauguration
Box 3 - Folder 46
Commencements
Box 3 – Folder 47
Salon 222

Series 8: NEC Projects/Subject files

Box 3 – Folder 48
Consultants – Human Resources Management
Box 3 – Folder 49
Boston Consulting Group Study
Box 3 – Folder 50
Consultants – Capitol Associates – Federal Fundraising Initiatives
Box 3 – Folder 51
Boston Music Education Collaborative (BMEC), Fall 1996-1997
Box 4 – Folder 1
BMEC, 1998-1999
Box 4 – Folder 2
Five Year Plan
Box 4 – Folder 3
Five Year Plan
Box 4 – Folder 4
From the Top
Box 4 – Folder 5
Huntington Brass Quintet
Box 4 – Folder 6
Gunther Schuller recordings
Box 4 – Folder 7
Walnut Hill
Box 4 - Folder 8
Tourjee photo

Series 9: Speeches/Writings/ Biographical Information

Box 4 – Folder 9
NEC Speeches/ Interviews for NEC Publications
Box 4 – Folder 10
Articles/Interviews for non-NEC publications
Box 4 – Folder 11
Letters to the Editor
Box 4 – Folder 12
Biographical Information
Box 4 – Folder 13
Speeches/articles (from time at Eastman)
Box 4 – Folder 14
Photographs

Series 10: External Files

Box 4 – Folder 15
External files, General, A-B
Box 4 – Folder 16
External files, General, C-H
Box 4 – Folder 17
External files, General, I-N
Box 4 – Folder 18
External files, General, P-Z
Box 4 – Folder 19
American Classical Music Hall of Fame
Box 4 – Folder 20
American Festival for the Arts
Box 4 – Folder 21
American Symphony Orchestra League, 1997-1998
Box 4 – Folder 22
Anderson Quartet, 1997-98
Box 4 – Folder 23
BankBoston Celebrity Series
Box 4 – Folder 24
Board of Higher Education, 1997-1998
Box 4 – Folder 25
Boston (2000)
Box 4 – Folder 26
Boston Classical Orchestra
Box 4 – Folder 27
Boston Conservatory of Music
Box 4 – Folder 28
Boston – Fenway Program, 1997
Box 4 – Folder 29
Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), 1997-1999
Box 4 – Folder 30
Boston Public Library, 1997-1998
Box 4 – Folder 31
Boston Skyline Records, 1996-1998
Box 4 – Folder 32
Boston Symphony Orchestra / Pops, 1996-1997
Box 4 – Folder 33
Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1998-1999
Box 4 – Folder 34
Bregenz Festival, 1998-1999
Box 4 – Folder 35
Zakhar Bron, 1997-1998
Box 4 - Folder 36
Chamber Music America, 1997-98
Box 4 – Folder 37
City on a Hill, annual reports, 1996-99
Box 4 – Folder 38
City on a Hill, correspondence, 1997-1998
Box 4 – Folder 39
College Music Society, 1997-1998
Box 4 – Folder 40
Cultural and Scientific Director’s Group
Box 4 – Folder 41
Curtis Institute of Music
Box 4 – Folder 42
Europe Trip File, October 1998
Box 4 – Folder 43
Fenway Alliance, 1997
Box 4 – Folder 44
Fenway Alliance, Muddy River – Restoration and Action Plan, 1997
Box 4 – Folder 45
Fenway Alliance, Planning Report, 1997
Box 4 – Folder 46
Fenway Alliance, 1998
Box 4 – Folder 47
Fenway Alliance, 1999
Box 4 – Folder 48
Gasteig
Box 4 – Folder 49
Guildhall School of Music and Drama – Ian Horsbrugh
Box 4 – Folder 50
Handel and Haydn Society
Box 5 – Folder 1
Harvard University – Miscellaneous, 1996-1999
Box 5 – Folder 2
Hochschule fur Musik (Freiburg)
Box 5 – Folder 3
Hochschule fur Musik (Vienna)
Box 5 – Folder 4
INK (Institut fur Internationales Kulturmanagement (E. Heintz)
Box 5 – Folder 5
University of Iowa (The Seashore Symposium)
Box 5 – Folder 6
Japanese Consulate
Box 5 – Folder 7
Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
Box 5 – Folder 8
Melvin Kaplan Inc.
Box 5 – Folder 9
Senator Edward Kennedy (much of the correspondence deals with the Young
Performances series)
Box 5 – Folder 10
John F. Kennedy – Harbison Commission
Box 5 – Folder 11
Killington Music Festival
Box 5 – Folder 12
Kodaly Center of America
Box 5 – Folder 13
Kumho Group
Box 5 – Folder 14
Kunitachi College of Music (Bin Ebisawa)
Box 5 – Folder 15
Legal Seafoods
Box 5 – Folder 16
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of
Box 5 – Folder 17
Millenium Tavern Club – Jubilee 2000
Box 5 - Folder 18
MIT
Box 5 – Folder 19
John J. Moakley, U.S. Representative
Box 5 – Folder 20
Museum of Fine Arts
Box 5 – Folder 21
The Music and Science Information Computer Archive (MUSICA)
Box 5 – Folder 22
National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), 1996-1997
Box 5 – Folder 23
NASM, January - August 1998
Box 5 – Folder 24
NASM, September- December 1998
Box 5 – Folder 25
NASM, 1999
Box 5 – Folder 26
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Box 5 – Folder 27
National Endowment for the Humanities
Box 5 – Folder 28
National Public Radio
Box 5 – Folder 29
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
Box 5 – Folder 30
New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE)
Box 5 – Folder 31
New World Symphony
Box 5 – Folder 32
New York String Quartet
Box 5 – Folder 33
Northeastern University
Box 5 – Folder 34
Oxford trip, March 1997
Box 5 – Folder 35
Paris Conservatory
Box 5 – Folder 36
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity
Box 5 – Folder 37
ProArts, 1998
Box 5 – Folder 38
Project STEP
Box 5 – Folder 39
Red Sox
Box 5 – Folder 40
Sachsen Institute
Box 5 – Folder 41
Salzburg Seminar
Box 5 – Folder 42
Gunther Schuller, 1997-1999
Box 5 – Folder 43
Seven Springs Conference, 1997-99
Box 5 – Folder 44
Seven Springs Questionnaire
Box 5 – Folder 45
Catherine Filene Shouse Foundation
Box 5 – Folder 46
Sibelius Academy
Box 5 – Folder 47
Hon. Louise Slaughter
Box 5 – Folder 48
Gerald Slavet, Taste of Passover
Box 5 – Folder 49
South Shore Conservatory
Box 5 – Folder 50
Triple Helix
Box 5 – Folder 51
James Undercofler (Eastman)
Box 5 – Folder 52
UCLA
Box 5 – Folder 53
US Department of Education
Box 5 - Folder 54
US Government (General)
Box 5 – Folder 55
Uscher, Nancy
Box 5 – Folder 56
Vienna trip – Dresden, Gorlitz, Bregenz – May, 1998
Box 5 – Folder 57
WBUR
Box 5 – Folder 58
WCRB
Box 5 – Folder 59
WGBH, 1996 - June, 1998
Box 5 – Folder 60
WGBH, July 1998- March 1999
Box 5 – Folder 61
WGBH Educational Foundation
Box 5 – Folder 62
Wellesley College
Box 5 – Folder 63
Wuhan Conservatory of Music
Box 5 – Folder 64
Young Audiences
Box 5 – Folder 65
YMCA