St. Louis Post-Dispatch – After 2-year national search, SLSO names new chorus director

By Daniel Durchholz | Published July 30, 2024

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has announced that Erin Freeman has been named the director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and the AT&T Foundation Chair. Her appointment follows a national search that ensued upon the retirement of Amy Kaiser, whose 27-year tenure as chorus director ended with the 2021-22 season.

Freeman will be just the third person to hold that position, which was founded in 1976 under the direction of Thomas Peck.

She is currently artistic director of the City Choir of Washington, artistic director of Wintergreen Music and principal conductor of the Richmond Ballet. She recently concluded appointments as director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus and director of choral activities at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Speaking to the Post-Dispatch last week via Zoom as she was preparing to wrap up this year’s Wintergreen Music Festival in Nellysford, Virginia, Freeman said she is excited about her appointment as chorus director. As for her already crowded schedule, she allowed, “There’ll be a little shifting of responsibilities to make sure I have enough time to do what I need to do for everybody.”

Freeman was in St. Louis early this year to work with SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève and the chorus for a Feb. 28 program that featured Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem” at the Cathedral Basilica. Though it served as an audition for the job, Freeman didn’t really think of it that way.

“The process was less of an audition and more of a mission,” she said. “When you’re given a task to do something in preparation for a performance, the idea that it’s an audition disappears very quickly. We all did our best to make Fauré come to life with my vision and Stéphane’s vision comingled to make a great performance.”

Last summer, Freeman and Denève had a long conversation over Zoom in which they “geeked out about how chorus and orchestra work together, the importance of a symphony chorus and the importance of an organization like the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra within the landscape of the city,” Freeman said.

“There was an instant musical connection there, even via Zoom,” she added. “And then, of course, I got to know him through the performance week.”

In a statement released by the SLSO, Denève said, “The St. Louis Symphony Chorus is extremely dear to my heart; therefore I am thrilled that Erin Freeman has accepted to become its new director.”

He added that when she worked with the chorus in February, “Erin’s chemistry with the ensemble was palpable and her creative, inspired and deeply musical and collaborative leadership truly impressed me.”

In that same statement, SLSO President and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard said, “Erin’s wealth of experience, deep knowledge of repertoire and engaging personality make her a perfect leader for the chorus.”

This season’s SLSO programs that feature the chorus include performances of Mozart’s “Requiem” (Nov. 9-10), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (March 1-2) and Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” (May 3-4).

In addition to leading the preparation of the chorus for concerts, Freeman will collaborate with Denève and guest conductors on artistic vision for future choral and choral-orchestral performances.

“That was one of the things that was really attractive about the St. Louis Symphony Chorus,” she said; “that I will be part of those discussions as seasons are planned. It’s a great feeling to know that I’m joining a team that is really interested in gathering lots of perspectives.”

Working with the chorus itself, Freeman said, “is a real joy” because most of the members are volunteers.

“They’re coming from different jobs, different experiences during the day. And for them, that Tuesday night (rehearsal) is a sacred three hours where they put aside everything else and devote themselves to the art of music, the art of digging deeper and finding what the next level is. And so it’s really fun to be a part of people’s favorite night of the week.”

“My job,” she added, “is to be as prepared as possible, to anticipate what I think needs the most work, but also be flexible, hear what actually needs work and then go in that direction — go where they need me to go in order to bring them to the highest level possible.”

Read the full article HERE.