The Ron Freeman Chorale was founded in the fall of 1971 by music director Ron Freeman. The group's primary focus is the performance of sacred choral music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods featuring composers such as Orlande de Lassus, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Giovanni Gabrieli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Heinrich Schütz, and Dieterich Buxtehude. The Chorale also has presented works by 19th and 20th century composers such as Anton Bruckner, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Louis Vierne, and Jean Langlais. Although in size the group could be considered a chamber chorus, it often programs works for double choir from the 16th century a cappella literature.
Concerts have featured a Mass for double choir by Orlande de Lassus, the complex multi-voiced The Great Service by William Byrd, the seldom-performed Messe Pour Les Trépassés by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd, Missa Pro Defunctis by Tomás Luis de Victoria, In the Beginning by Aaron Copland, and Missa Brevis by Zoltán Kodály.
The Chorale’s 25th anniversary concert featured music as it may have been heard in the Bavarian Court. Orlande de Lassus' Missa Bell' Amfitrit' altera was presented with the Ordinary of the Mass separated by verses of his Psalmus Poenitentialis VI, De profundis (Ps 129) performed a cappella and Psalmus Poenitentialis VII, Domine exaudi orationem meam (Ps 142) performed with instruments doubling the voices. Also presented was Hans Leo Hassler's Canzon II with brass quartet. A recording of the concert, Music of the Bavarian Court: Circa 1600, was released on CD in 1997. In a review of the concert, the late Joseph McLellan, longtime music critic for The Washington Post, said "The Ron Freeman Chorale celebrated its 25th anniversary by doing what it does best: singing polyphonic music of the Renaissance."
The Chorale celebrated completion of its 30th season in May 2002 with a concert of vocal and orchestral music at the Franciscan Monastery. Many selections were composed for double choir, particularly Missa Alleluia by Heinrich Ignaz Biber that features double choir, eight soloists, and brass orchestral ensemble. Similarly, Giovanni Gabrieli's Buccinate features 19 voices in four choirs, with the fourth choir entirely instrumental.
During its 1998-99 season, the Chorale celebrated the 100th anniversary Francis Poulenc's birth with a performance of his Messe en Sol Majeur (Mass in G Major). Described as “difficult,” “sober,” and “Romanesque,” the work shows the serenity Poulenc had found in his return to the Roman Catholic faith and, with the Kyrie, symbolizes the composer’s words “the Christian soul, confident of life after death.”
SINGERS
The Chorale is comprised of volunteer vocal musicians with particular interests in early music. Many also are members of local church and community choirs.
Soprano
Elizabeth Ballantine
Jennifer Drake
Janis McCollim
Lisa Page
Carolyn D Price
Veronica Precup
Jackie Quigley
Laura Saylor
Alto
Trudy Beddow
Alison Bonebrake
Pam Gibert
Kristine Iverson
Cheryl McCulla
Kathryn Schultz
Susan Tarr
Susan Williams
Tenor
Darwyn Banks
Win Hayward
Steven Alan Honley
Mimi Stevens
David Tillotson
John Trevey
Bass
Hugh Benton
John Clay
James Femow
Richard Griffin
Ronald G Precup
Rob Tabor
RON FREEMAN
Music Director
Ron Freeman has had a varied career as instrumentalist, singer, and conductor. In high school he studied piano, trombone and voice. He entered college with a double major in voice and trombone, but when the opportunity to sing opera presented itself, singing gradually took over. Immediately after graduating from college he joined the army for a 30-year career as a first tenor in the Army Chorus. He served as Director of Music at Arlington Forest United Methodist Church for 40 years, and for 22 years was Music Director of the Prince George's Choral Society in Maryland, a position he resumed in 2004.
Mr Freeman was the first conductor of the Washington Men's Camerata, which started in 1963. He has coached numerous singers in the area and accompanied them in various concerts and recitals. He has been guest conductor with a number of orchestras in the area and was Music Director of the Capitol Hill Symphony for several years.
RAYMOND FREEMAN
Pianist & Rehearsal Accompanist
Dr Raymond Freeman is an accomplished pianist, organist, and cellist who has performed in the Northern Virginia area for more than 40 years. His experience as church organist dates back to 1965 and includes positions at Resurrection Lutheran, Arlington Methodist, and Kirkwood Presbyterian churches. He frequently performs as a solo pianist and has appeared several times with the Arlington Symphony Orchestra. He was guest artist at Arlington Forest Methodist Church in a dedicatory organ recital in 1973. He also has performed as cellist with the American Light Opera Company and the Arlington Symphony Orchestra.
Dr Freeman currently serves as organist at Grace Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Virginia since 1999 and also as accompanist for the Northern Virginia Chorale. Dr Freeman holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rob Tabor, President
Carolyn Price, Librarian & Treasurer
Elizabeth Ballentine
Richard Griffin
Mimi Stevens
