BALLET – CHORUS – ORCHESTRA – ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP – TEACHING – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Photo credit: Melody Yazdani
"The stellar playing of the Bloch’s concerto by the Kennedy Center Orchestra under the baton of Erin Freeman contributed immensely to the success of the performance."
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Conductor and artistic leader Erin Freeman serves in multiple positions through the United States and maintains an international presence through guest engagements. She is Director of the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus, Artistic Director of The City Choir of Washington, Artistic Director of Wintergreen Music, and Principal Conductor of the Richmond Ballet. Previously she was Director of the award-winning Richmond Symphony Chorus and Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.
Guest conducting engagements include the New York City Ballet, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Portland (Maine) Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Charlottesville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and additional ensembles in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, and Illinois. She has conducted at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, La Madeleine in Paris, and the Kennedy Center, and has led and/or prepared the Richmond Symphony Chorus for multiple recordings, including the 2019 GRAMMY-nominated release of Mason Bates’ Children of Adam on the Reference Recording label. After a year of creating online, interactive experiences for multiple organizations, in 2021-2022, Freeman returned to the podium in engagements with the Virginia, Portland, Detroit, Williamsburg, and Richmond Symphony Orchestras, choral preparation for the Defiant Requiem Foundation, a performance of Faure’s Requiem in Carnegie Hall with Distinguished Concerts International New York, two productions with the Richmond Ballet, and the Richmond Symphony Chorus’ 50th anniversary celebration, featuring Haydn’s The Creation. The 2022-2023 season brought appearances with the Detroit Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Savannah Philharmonic, the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra, and multiple performances with the Richmond Ballet, Wintergreen Music, and The City Choir of Washington. In 2023-2024, Freeman made her debut with the New York City Ballet in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker; The Washington Ballet as part of “10,000 Dreams – A Celebration of Asian Choreography;” the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus, preparing Fauré Requiem for Stéphane Denève; at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts conducting Carmina Burana with the Richmond Ballet; Cadogan Hall in London, England leading Everyday Wonders - The Girl from Aleppo by Cecilia McDowall; and the Musikverein in Vienna with Berkshire Choral International, featuring Bruckner’s Te Deum and Elgar’s The Music Makers. In the current season, Freeman will prepare the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus for multiple performances; lead the Richmond Ballet in John Butler’s Carmina Burana, Stoner Winslett’s The Nutcracker, and Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella; direct the City Choir of Washington with guests from the Washington National Opera Orchestra and Wolf Trap Opera in works from Haydn to Bizet; and lead the City Choir on a tour to Brazil, culminating in a performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Mozarteum Brasileiro in Sao Paolo. A recent finalist for Performance Today’s Classical Woman of the Year, Freeman has also been named one of Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s “50 Most Influential Women in Virginia” and an “Extraordinary Woman Leader” by the VCU School of Business. Freeman holds degrees from Northwestern University (BMus), Boston University (MM), and Peabody Conservatory (DMA). February 2025 
Conducting the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, 2015. Photo credit: Paul Purpura
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Downloadable Bios (updated 2-2025):
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Repertoire Lists (updated 2-2025):
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