Beebe Freitas (August 28, 1938 – February 17, 2018) was an American pianist, organist, vocal coach and educator. She was the Head of Music for Hawaii Opera Theatre.

Life

Beatrice Pauline (Botty) Freitas was born in

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

, Ohio, to father John Botty and mother Pauline (Esterhay) Botty. Freitas's father was Pastor of the Hungarian United Presbyterian Church in Youngstown, was born in Hungary and was a

naturalized citizen of the United States Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. Freitas's mother was

Dean of Women The dean of women at a college or university in the United States is the dean with responsibility for student affairs for female students. In early years, the position was also known by other names, including preceptress, lady principal, and adviser ...

and Head of the Sociology Department at Youngstown State University and an attorney. Beebe married Lewis P. Freitas November 30, 1964 and is the mother of Roslyn Kapuamakalaniepaheahe Freitas Catracchia and John Botty Freitas. Freitas attended South High School in Youngstown and in 1954 was the recipient of a Ford Foundation Early Admissions Scholarship to

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Oberlin Oberlin may refer to: ; Places in the United States * Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas ** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township * Oberlin, Louisiana, a town * Oberlin, Ohio, a city * Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town * Oberlin, ...

, Ohio where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1958, studying piano with Edward Mattos. She was awarded a Scholarship in Accompanying from Boston University where she received a Master of Music degree in 1959, studying piano with

Alexander Borovsky Alexander Borovsky (Borowsky) (1889-1968), a Russian-American pianist, was born in Mitau, Russia. His first piano teacher was his mother, a pupil of Vasily Safonov. He completed his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1912 with a gold med ...

and music history with Karl Geiringer. Continuing

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

at Juilliard School of Music, New York City, from 1959 to 1962, she studied piano with

Beveridge Webster Beveridge Webster (May 13, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1999, in Hanover, New Hampshire) was an American pianist and educator. Beveridge Webster studied with his father, initially, and in 1921, at age 14, he began five years of ...

and ensemble music with

Louis Persinger Louis Persinger (11 February 1887, Rochester, Illinois31 December 1966, New York, New York) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin. Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studies ...

, Isadore Cohen,

Robert Mann Robert Nathaniel Mann (July 19, 1920 – January 1, 2018) was a violinist, composer, Conductor (music), conductor, and founding member of the Juilliard String Quartet, as well as a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music. Mann, the fir ...

, Luigi Silva and others. Freitas and her husband moved to Honolulu in 1966 where she was the Head of Music for Hawaii Opera Theatre, organist for the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu and the

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

Chapel Program, and coached privately. She died at her home in Aina Haina, Hawaii on February 17, 2018.

Career

Early years

Freitas made her professional debut performing with the

Youngstown Symphony Orchestra The Youngstown Symphony is a symphony orchestra based in Youngstown, Ohio. Based in downtown Youngstown's Powers Auditorium, the symphony has been performing classical music for Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley The Youngstown–Warren–Boa ...

during their 1955 – '56 season. While an Accompanying Scholarship Masters recipient at Boston University she served as a rehearsal pianist for Charles Munch,

Music Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

and

Conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

of the Boston Symphony, during their 1958 – '59 season and, during the summer of 1959 performed as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Arthur Fiedler conducting. While at Juilliard she served as the Choral Rehearsal Pianist from 1959 to 1962 and participated in the Opening Performance of the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. Over the next four years she went on to become the rehearsal pianist for the

Collegiate Chorale MasterVoices (formerly the Collegiate Chorale) is a symphonic choir based in New York City, USA. It was founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw, who was later to found the professional Robert Shaw Chorale. MasterVoices continues to give several performance ...

and the Camerata Singers under the direction of Abraham Kaplan, and regularly served as rehearsal pianist for choral works being presented by the New York Philharmonic conducted by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, William Steinberg, Joseph Krips and Thomas Schippers. Freitas also was rehearsal accompanist for recordings under Robert Shaw.

Honolulu, Hawaii

After Freitas and husband Lewis moved to Honolulu, she taught privately and was the organist at Niu Valley's Kilohana Methodist Church under Helen Noh Lee. She joined the faculty of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Music Department in 1972 teaching piano, accompanying, working with choruses, and coaching opera and music theater workshops. Freitas began working with Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT) as rehearsal pianist in 1972 when Robert LaMarchina, then conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra (recently renamed Hawaii Symphony), initiated regular opera productions. She helped shepherd the transition of the company, as part of the Honolulu Symphony, to being a separate institution, serving at various times as rehearsal pianist, vocal coach, co-Choral Master with Nola Nahulu, Artistic Director, Associate Artistic Director and was Head of Music for the company. Freitas has performed in recitals with David Shifrin, Tom Boyd,

Leonard Rose Leonard Joseph Rose (July 27, 1918 – November 16, 1984) was an American cellist and pedagogue. Biography Rose was born in Washington, D.C.; his parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Bragin, Belarus, and his mother from Kyiv, ...

Sylvia McNair Sylvia McNair (born June 23, 1956) is an American opera singer and classical recitalist who has also achieved notable success in the Broadway and cabaret genres. McNair, a soprano, has made several critically acclaimed recordings and has won tw ...

Bernard Greenhouse Bernard Greenhouse (January 3, 1916 – May 13, 2011) was an American cellist and one of the founding members of the Beaux Arts Trio. Life and career Greenhouse was born in Newark, New Jersey. He started his professional studies with Felix Salmo ...

, Yo-Yo Ma, Quinn Kelsey, Maya Hoover, Lawrence Paxton,

Sasha Cooke Sasha Cooke is an American mezzo-soprano. Cooke was born in Riverside, California, and grew up in College Station, Texas, where her parents are professors of Russian at Texas A&M University. She earned a bachelor's degree from Rice University and ...

, Leon Williams, Frederica von Stade and others. She was the keyboard specialist with the Honolulu Symphony for thirty years and has performed with many of the professional chamber music groups in the state, including the Galliard String Quartet and the Spring Wind Quintet. She has recorded ''Sea Dreams'', for Lehua Records and keyboards for

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", ...

's last two recordings: "The Last Concert" (2002) and "Best of the Concord Years" (2003). She has served on the boards of several music organizations in Honolulu, including Hawai'i Arts Alliance

Awards and honors

Freitas has received numerous awards and honors, among which are the following: *'Oahu Choral Society – Dale R. Noble Award for outstanding contributions to choral music in Hawaii 2014 *Hawaii Arts Alliance – Alfred Preis Award 2005 *Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii – Living Treasures of Hawaii 2003 *

National Society of Arts and Letters The National Society of Arts and Letters (known by its abbreviation NSAL) is an American non-profit group founded in 1944 as a women's organization to assist promising young artists through arts competitions, scholarships and other career opportuni ...

, Honolulu Chapter – Roselani Medallion Honoree 2002 * City and County of Honolulu Commission on Culture and the Arts Award * YWCA of 'Oahu Leadership Honoree 1983

References

External links

Hawaii Opera Theatre''Miracles Happen'' co-composed song with Roslyn''Sea Dreams'', SLCD7034, Lehua Records''Profile of an Organist'', Punahou Schools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Beatrice Pauline 1938 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century organists 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American musicians 21st-century organists 21st-century American women musicians American organists American music educators Musicians from Youngstown, Ohio Oberlin College alumni Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Juilliard School alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty American women music educators American women organists 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists American women pianists Musicians from Honolulu American people of Hungarian descent American women academics