Freer, Eleanor (née Everest)
Freer, Eleanor (née Everest)
Freer, Eleanor (née Everest), American composer; b. Philadelphia, May 14, 1864; d. Chicago, Dec. 13, 1942. She studied singing in Paris (1883–86) with Mathilde Marchesi, then took a course in composition with Benjamin Godard. Upon her return to the U.S., she taught singing at the National Cons, of Music of America in N.Y. (1889–91). She then settled in Chicago, where she studied theory with Bernhard Ziehn (1902–07). She publ. some light pieces under the name Everest while still a young girl, but most of her larger works were written after 1919. She also wrote an autobiography, Recollections and Reflections of an American Composer (Chicago, 1929). Among her works were 9 operas, of which the following were performed: The Legend of the Piper (South Bend, Ind., Feb. 28, 1924), The Court Jester (Lincoln, Nebr., 1926), A Christmas Tale (Houston, Dec. 27, 1929), Frithiof (concert perf., Chicago, Feb. 1, 1931), and A Legend of Spain (concert perf., Milwaukee, June 19, 1931). She also composed Sonnets from the Portuguese, song cycle, about 150 songs, and piano pieces.
Bibliography
A. Foster, E. F and Her Colleagues (Chicago, 1927).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire