Elinor Freer

A native of Montana, pianist Elinor Freer has built a versatile career as performer, teacher, and artistic administrator. Ms. Freer has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and China, including appearances in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bonn, Prague, Moscow, Guangzhou, and Beijing. A recipient of fellowships at the Steans Institute at Ravinia and the Tanglewood Music Center, Freer holds degrees with honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Southern California, as well as a Performer’s Diploma from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht.
Committed to expanding audiences for classical music, she founded residencies in rural Kansas, Montana, and New York, bringing music onto street corners and into schools, psychiatric hospitals, banks, and grocery stores. For these efforts, she was awarded multiple grants from Chamber Music America and the NEA. For 10 years, she served as Co-Artistic Director of the Skaneateles Festival in Central NY. During that time, the festival received national awards for adventurous programming and enrichment of community life from Chamber Music America. After the passing of her father from Alzheimers and Lewy Body Dementia, she has become interested in the use of piano classes as an intervention to delay cognitive decline in healthy older adults or those diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment. She is also interested in researching the effects of live performance or hands-on musical experiences on disadvantaged populations. Freer is on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and has recorded for Cedille Records.