Jocelyn Freeman

pianist & conductor

Freeman brings a full range of colours to her touch, as well as a sensitive response to harmony and terrific control of texture.

About

The award-winning Welsh collaborative pianist and conductor Jocelyn Freeman is lauded for her artistry, programming and powers of communication. She is an advocate for diversity in a range of artistic endeavours, and a skilled communicator on the concert platform, and in broadcast, recording and social media. Founder-director and curator of SongEasel, an initiative established to provide a platform for song in South East London, Jocelyn has curated extensive concert and recording projects to wide critical acclaim.

Jocelyn’s engagements have taken her to four continents including broadcasts in the UK and Germany; performances in the Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre and the Sage, Gateshead; and awards from Internationale Hugo-Wolf-Academie, International Marlow Concerto Competition and Snape Maltings. Notable collaborations feature Jamal Aliyev, Fleur Barron, the Broomwood Ensemble, Stuart Jackson, Gareth Brynmor John, the Lakewood Sinfonia, Stephan Loges, Joseph Shiner, Elin Manahan Thomas and Julien Van Mellaerts.  

A prize-winning graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Jocelyn’s repertoire champions standard song and concerto repertoire alongside lesser-known and contemporary composers. Her discography comprises releases with Kissan Records, Ty Cerdd and Orchid Classics.

Jocelyn is grateful for the support of the Carne Trust, Victor Wood, the Oleg Prokofiev Trust, the Nicholas Boas Foundation and Arts Council England.

Projects & Recordings

Jocelyn Freeman Piano

… ever-sensitive… exemplary, whether taking the lead or in discreet support.

SongEasel

SongEasel was established in 2018 to fill South East London with song. With threefold-aims to provide a platform for outstanding singers in the area; to bring new repertoire to established audiences; and to introduce standard repertoire to new audiences. Each series holds diversity and inclusivity at the heart of its mission, in harmony with showcasing exceptional musical quality at an international standard.

Our 2022 series Icons & Legends celebrates a notorious dinner meeting in Paris in May 1922 that included Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Diaghilev. Six song recitals in St Laurence Church Catford and Blackheath Halls pay homage to the meeting of minds of these creative luminaries.

SongEasel would like to extend its deepest gratitude to the Arts Council England, Blackheath Halls, the Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust, the Friends of SongEasel, the Church of St Laurence Catfor, The Leche Trust and the Oleg Prokofiev Trust.

Friends of SongEasel

Join our family of Friends and share our journey of song! We rely on the support of our Friends: without this amazing generosity, our work simply would not be possible. 

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Media

Schedule

Letters and Legends

Acclaimed bass-baritone Stephan Loges and I launch SongEasel's Quintessential Song series with a programme of Brahms, the Schumanns, Ethel Smyth and Marie von Kehler, including the well-loved Vier ernste Gesänge. Richard Stokes introduces the programme at 7pm.

 

7pm, 22nd April 2023

Blackheath Halls

London SE3 9RQ

SongEasel's Fringe

In the spirit of bringing Song to a wider audience, I will be performing eclectic song recitals with sopranos Aoife Miskelly and Lorena Paz Nieto and mezzo-soprano Heather Lowe in The Hill Station (Telegraph Hill), Rocketvan Coffee Shop (Elephant & Castle) and Ninth Life Pub (Catford) over the coming months.

April 28th, May 12th, 19th

June 11th, 30th

Venues in South East London 

Lied the Way workshop

I return to speak as a career panelist in the second Lied the Way symposium in Germany, mentoring young female song pianists. My fellow panelists include Prof. Natasha Loges, Chanda VanderHart, Kathleen Kelly and Pauliina Tukiainen.

3rd-7th May 2023

Schloss Imbhausen

Germany

 

My Beloved is Mine

Stuart Jackson (tenor), George Strivens (horn) and I perform a programme of collaborative Lieder in Catford including works by Britten, Glazanov, Schubert and Schumann, introduced by Dr. Lucy Walker

12noon, 14th May 2023

St Laurence Church

Catford SE6 2TS

The Trout Quintet

Together with baritone James Newby, bassist Leon Bosch and the Piatti Quartet we present Schubert's glorious 'Trout Quintet' alongside songs of a watery nature. Includes a talk from Leon Boesch at 5pm.

5pm and 7.30pm, 16th June 2023

St Catherine’s Church 

Hatcham SE14 5SG

Mozart and Moonlight

I return to St Martin-in-the-Fields to perform Beethoven's popular 'Moonlight' Sonata and Mozart's Concerto in C major no. 21 alongside the St Martin's Chamber Ensemble and director Andrew Earis.

7pm, 21st July 2023

St Martin-in-the-Fields

London WC2N 4JJ

...with heavy, sooty piano chords, deftly shaded by Freeman, fading to a hushed end.

Contact

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