Richard Freed

Richard (Donald) Freed (December 27, 1928 –) is an American music critic, program annotator and administrator of 20th centuries.

Freed studied at the University of Chicago (received a bachelor's degrees in philosophy in 1947). After having act the part as and contributing editor at the Saturday Review and assistant director to Irving Kolodin (from 1962 to 1963) and as a staff critic for The New York Times, including some of The Audio Beat (1965–1966), he was assistant to the director of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music (1966–1970) and director of public relations for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (1971–1972). He was executive director of the MCANA from 1974 to 1990 and served as a contributing editor of Stereo Review (from 1973), as record critic for The Washington Star (1972–1975) and The Washington Post (1976–1984), radio host for the concerts of the St. Louis and Baltimore symphony orchestras, and program annotator for those orchestras as well as the Houston Symphony, National Symphony and Philadelphia orchestras. He has received two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards for his concert and record annotations, and a Grammy Award for the latter. and as consultant to the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra (from 1981).

As author of several articles and reviews for newspapers and journals, he has also written and interpretated many of historical recordings for the Smithsonian Institution. Freed has received the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Authors and Publishers, Deems Taylor and Grammy awards for his concert and record notes.

As the Past Music Critics Association of North America Executive Director and unofficial MCANA Historian he has recently donated several important historical items to the organization.

In addition to numerous documents that are invaluable in providing the early history of the MCANA, a series of reel-to-reel tapes of a public symposium presented by the MCA (as it was then known) at the Kennedy Center in March 1987 are included.

The symposium, Music Criticism in Americas Press, was presented with support from The National Endowment for the Arts; The Gannett Foundation; The Hechinger Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Gordon P. Getty; and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

• In May 1963: The National Music Council has formed a Recording Service Committee. His article in The Gramophone, Briefly, the Committee reviews
• On Feb 25, 1967: Review of some recent Strauss recordings, "Vintage Strauss", Saturday Review
• In 1982: Masterworks, 11-13. Edition, International Alban Berg Society, Virginia University
• On July 29, 1984 he wrote "Igor Stravinsky And Friends" in Washington Post.
• On June 24, 1990 he wrote an article with titel Kubelik in Prague — and in the Catalogue.
• In March 1992 in occasion of the proof of the union, he might say, was in the listening was great, who reviewed Kurt Masur’s production of the Anton Bruckner Seventh Symphony, recorded live at his debut performance. “It is a noble reading,” said he, adding, “there is a mellowness new to the Philharmonic, and it does not by any means cancel out brilliance.” With Masur at the podium, the future promised much for the New York Philharmonic.
• In 1993: Conductors Anthology: The school music director off the podium

• Igor Stravinsky And Friends
• N.Y.T.: Kubelik in Prague