Paul Freeman is a rarity in the world of classical music: an eminent black conductor who’s been at it for almost three decades. “There are only a handful of us around,” he says with a hint of indignation. On the phone from Victoria, Canada–his home base; he heads that city’s principal orchestra–Freeman explains that the dearth of minority performers and audiences was a major impetus behind his decision to form the Chicago Sinfonietta last year.
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Why? Freeman blames government. “During the 60s and 70s,” he argues, “the boards of education cut back in music programs. Minorities were affected the most. A poor kid’s family could not afford to rent an instrument, let alone pay for lessons. If a black kid were talented, he was more likely to use his voice. That’s why there are many more black singers today.” Home environment and cultural image, he adds, have been factors too: “Look at the new crop of Asian musicians. They were trained with the Suzuki method, and the sense of discipline instilled by their parents is ideally suited to classical music. When I was growing up, my parents preferred to tune the radio to the Met and the NBC Symphony. So it seemed the natural thing for me to pick up the violin and the clarinet. In fact, I resented it when people asked me if I was following the steps of Louis Armstrong. For a long time I refused to play a note of jazz. But let’s face it, most black families are not familiar with the music of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. How could they? They are victims of historical conditions.”
Freeman has two missions in life: good music making and the introduction of classical music to minorities and to the young. He’s been helped by a growing renown as a thoughtful conductor, a reputation acquired through prizewinning albums and numerous conducting appearances in North America and Europe. In fact, he owes the opportunity to start the Chicago Sinfonietta to an invitation to guest conduct here. “A couple of summers ago,” Freeman explains, “I guest conducted at Grant Park and was very pleased with the reaction. I felt good vibes. So when certain people in the community approached me about spending more time here, I agreed. As you know, Chicago was then the only big city without a midsize orchestra. We decided to fill that void. This way we have a niche to ourselves and are not in direct competition with the CSO or Music of the Baroque.”
