Stan Freese

American musician

Stan Freese
Born
Stanford Dale Freese

(1944-08-21) August 21, 1944 (age 80)
Muscatine, Iowa, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
Occupation(s)Musician, bandleader, talent booker, entertainment producer
Years active1954–present
Spouse(s)Patricia Weatherhead (married 1971–1987)
Tera Abercrombie (married 2004–present)
ChildrenJosh Freese
Jason Freese

Stanford Dale Freese (born August 21, 1944)[1] is an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, and talent booking director best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company.

Born in Iowa and raised in Minnesota, Freese is a tuba player and worked in Disney's theme park division for 45 years—specifically Disney Live Entertainment. He contributed to entertainment projects at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and Tokyo Disney Resort as a performer, bandleader, talent booker, show director, and producer.[1] Freese retired from Disney in April of 2016.[1]

Early life and education

Stanford Dale Freese was born in Muscatine, Iowa on August 21, 1944, to Ethyl (née Visser) and Harold "Hal" Freese.[1] Freese's parents were both musicians (his mother was a pianist and his father was a trumpet player and bandleader) as well as teachers. When Freese was eight years old, his family moved to Edina, Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis), which became Freese's hometown.

Freese first began learning the tuba at age nine on a bet with two elementary school friends.[1] After some instruction from his father, he became quite prolific with the tuba and spent the next several years competing and performing around the Midwest both with marching bands and as a solo musical comedy act.[1] At age 14, Freese performed on an episode of Lawrence Welk's Top Tunes and New Talent television show, sharing billing with the Lennon Sisters and Pete Fountain.[1]

After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in music education in 1967, Freese became a music teacher and director of the marching band at Edison High School in Minneapolis.[1] In 1969, he was selected by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as a tuba soloist to acompany the University of Minnesota Concert Band on a goodwill tour of the Soviet Union. When they returned from the weeks-long tour that May, Freese and the band performed for President Richard Nixon and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin at the White House.[1] Freese was chosen again by the government to tour China as a tuba soloist with the Minnesota band on a goodwill tour in 1980.[2]

Career

Freese began his musical career in Hollywood, where he produced and performed in television and motion picture soundtrack recordings until 1977, when he was hired by Disney and moved to Orlando, Florida to serve as the leader of the Walt Disney World Band.[3] Two years later, Walt Disney World Band relocated to Disneyland, where he became Director of Bands and began re-envisioning the musical programming for Disneyland and the upcoming Disney California Adventure theme park.

Awards and recognition

In 1995, Freese was inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.[4] In 1997, he was the recipient of the Classic Conference Fine Arts and Distinguished Service Award. In 2007, he was inducted into the Edina Hall of Fame and awarded the Outstanding Acievement Award by the University of Minnesota.[5] Also in 2007, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records as producer of the largest Tuba Christmas Ensemble in the world consisting of over 500 tubas performing in concert at Downtown Disney. In 2008, he received the Disney Entertainment Excellence Award. In 2009 and 2010, he was recognized by the United States Armed Forces School of Music for participation and training of United States Army senior bandleaders for the United States military bands. In 2010, he received the Disney Entertainment Hall of Fame Award and the NAMM Association School JAM USA Award on behalf of the Walt Disney Company. In 2011, he received the Orange County Lifetime Achievement Award.[6]

Personal life

Freese is married to Tera Freese and has two sons, Josh and Jason, both studio and touring musicians.[7] Josh is a member of the Vandals, Devo, and Foo Fighters.[8] Jason is primarily a studio musician and has been touring with Green Day since 2004.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Freese, Stanford (2023). Music, Mayhem and the Mouse: My "Tubazar" Life (1st ed.). Skyway Press. ISBN 978-1736044650.
  2. ^ "Dr. Frank Bencriscutto Celebration Concerts – Biographies". University of Minnesota. April 15, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ "Disneyland Band". Disney History 101. Disney. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  4. ^ "Standford Freese (1945 - ), Inducted in 1995" (PDF). Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  5. ^ "Standford Freese: Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient". University of Minnesota. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  6. ^ "DLR Casting Director Earns OC Music Swards Lifetime Achievement Honor". MouseInfo. February 23, 2011. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018.
  7. ^ "The Family Business: Stan Freese and Sons Josh and Jason – OC Weekly". OC Weekly. June 26, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  8. ^ "Foo Fighters announce Josh Freese as new drummer after Taylor Hawkins' death | Foo Fighters | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  • Lewis, Randy (September 13, 1985). "Band Boasts Millions of Fans, No Hits". Los Angeles Times.
  • Freese, Stan (January 5, 2015). "Interview: Stan Freese (Career Overview)" (Interview). Interviewed by Scott Wolf. Mouse Clubhouse.
  • Bell, Tom (April 1, 2016). "First Magic Kingdom band director retiring after long career at Disneyland". Disney Information Station.
  • Rafferty Jr., Kevin (March 31, 2016). "The Beat Will Go On for Retiring Disneyland Resort Cast Member Stan Freese". Disney Parks Blog.
Authority control databases: Artists Edit this at Wikidata
  • MusicBrainz