Grace Adele Freebey

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Grace Adele Freebey
A slim young white woman stands leaning one elbo on a piano, hand on hip; she is wearing a floor-length tiered light-colored gown
Grace Adele Freebey, photographed in 1914
BornJanuary 25, 1885
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
DiedMarch 30, 1943
Los Angeles, California
Occupation(s)Musician, pianist, composer

Grace Adele Freebey (January 25, 1885 – March 30, 1943)[1] was an American pianist, music teacher, and composer, based in Los Angeles.

Early life and education[edit]

Freebey was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the daughter of Charles Peter Freebey and Joanna Estelle Walsh Freebey. Her mother was born in Canada.[2] In childhood, she moved to Los Angeles with her parents and siblings.[3][4] She studied piano with A. J. Stamm, Marie von Unschuld, Louis Bachner, and Ernest Hutcheson, and composition with conductor Henry Schoenefeld.[3][5]

Career[edit]

Freebey performed as a concert pianist,[6][7] and was accompanist for singers Ernestine Schumann-Heink and Ellen Beach Yaw, and cellists May Mukle and Alfred Wallenstein.[8] In 1914 she toured in vaudeville with Wallenstein, a child prodigy.[9] She was a member of the Schliewen Trio, with Wallenstein and violinist Richard Schliewen.[10] She was business manager and accompanist of the all-woman Sunny Southland Trio.[11]

Freebey taught piano classes at her own studio in Los Angeles,[12][13] and at the Wilson-Greene School of Music,[14] and as head of the piano department at Martha Washington Seminary in Washington, D.C.[3]

Tunes composed by Freebey, including "My Dearest Wish" (1911),[15] "O Golden Sun" (1912),[16] "North Wind", "Wind of the West", "May Day",[17] "Calling You", "Somebody's Coming", "Love's Resignation", "Just You and My Homeland" (1919),[18] "My Golden California" (1924)[19] and "Think of Me Sometimes" (1929), were performed by Schumann-Heink, Tsianina Redfeather,[18] Jeanne Jomelli,[20]Johanna Gadski, David Bispham, Constance Balfour, the People's Orchestra of Los Angeles,[21][22] and other popular singers and musical groups.[3]

Personal life[edit]

Freebey died at her home in Los Angeles in 1943, at the age of 58.[23][24] Her grave is in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Birth and death dates are on her gravestone in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, via FindaGrave.
  2. ^ "Obituary for Joanna E. Freebey (Aged 100)". The Los Angeles Times. 1948-01-09. p. 27. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d McGroarty, John Steven (1921). Los Angeles from the Mountains to the Sea: With Selected Biography of Actors and Witnesses to the Period of Growth and Achievement. American Historical Society. pp. 477–478.
  4. ^ "Veteran 'Times' Man Passes". The Los Angeles Times. 1937-02-15. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Gates, Willey Francis (1920). Who's who in Music in California. Pacific coast musician. pp. 58–60.
  6. ^ "Music Notes". Los Angeles Graphic: 30. September 30, 1905 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ "Freebey Farewell Concert". Los Angeles Herald. 1905-10-06. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Majestic Theater". Music News. 6 (2): 17. September 4, 1914.
  9. ^ "Undertake Vaudeville Tour to Help 'Cellist Prodigy Gain Education". Musical America. 20 (15): 28. August 15, 1914 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ "Schliewen Trio at the Friday Morning Club". Musical Courier. 72: 40. June 15, 1916.
  11. ^ "Miss Freebey's Ambition". Los Angeles Graphic: 15. February 11, 1905 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ "New Studio Opens". The Clubwoman. 16 (1): 32. October 1925 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ "Piano Pupils in Biltmore Recital". The Los Angeles Times. 1924-06-15. p. 67. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "New Music School for Washington, D.C." Musical America. 10 (19): 9. September 18, 1909 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1911). Catalog of Copyright Entries. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 779.
  16. ^ Smith, Catherine Parsons (2007-10-16). Making Music in Los Angeles: Transforming the Popular. University of California Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-520-25139-7.
  17. ^ "Los Angeles Composers' Day Observed by the Friday Morning Club". Musical Courier. 72: 61. February 24, 1916.
  18. ^ a b "Sale of Songs Large". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1919-10-11. p. 39. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Her 'California' Song Finds Favor". The Los Angeles Times. 1923-11-04. p. 55. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Jomelli Concert Program is Out". Riverside Daily Press. November 6, 1917. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  21. ^ Smith, Catherine Parsons (1992-10-01). "Something of Good for the Future: The People's Orchestra of Los Angeles". 19th-Century Music. 16 (2): 146–160. doi:10.2307/746263. ISSN 0148-2076. JSTOR 746263.
  22. ^ "Two Local Composers on People's Program". Los Angeles Herald. April 2, 1913. p. 9. Retrieved June 18, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  23. ^ "Obituary for Grace Adele Freebey (Aged 58)". The Los Angeles Times. 1943-04-02. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Grace Adele Freebey, Noted Composer-Pianist, Succumbs". The Pasadena Post. 1943-04-01. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-06-18 – via Newspapers.com.

External links[edit]

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