Erin P. Freund

Part-Time Assistant Professor; Harp

• Phone: 309-794-8298
• Email: ErinFreund@augustana.edu
• Office: Bergendoff 65

Erin Freund is a part-time assistant professor of music at Augustana College where she teaches harp and music appreciation. 

Teaching is at the core of her musical life as a musician, and loves the opportunities at Augustana to teach both private lessons as well as in a formal classroom setting. 

She strives to open the minds of her students to new kinds of music, and to open their ears to listen thoughtfully and critically.   She aims to equip her harp students with the technical and musical tools necessary to pursue a diverse life of music in the 21st century. 

Dr. Freund is a registered Suzuki harp teacher, and has served on the faculty of Indiana University South Bend’s Raclin School of the Arts, as well as the Music Institute of Chicago.

Dr. Freund is a versatile and creative harpist, equally at home performing solo music, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire. 

Dr. Freund is a frequent recitalist and embraces the challenge of performing virtuosic solo repertoire, spanning ancient and modern works that displays the full capabilities of the harp. 

She loves the challenge of transcribing unusual works for the harp, and her projects have included: Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for 2 harps, and Wagner’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, among many preludes and fugues by Bach and piano rags by Scott Joplin.  Dr. Freund views each transcription as an opportunity to present beloved pieces of music in a new light, expand the harp’s repertoire, and bust a few stereotypes along the way.

Dr. Freund holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees as well as a Performance Certificate from Northwestern University.  She completed her undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  Dr. Freund’s primary teachers included Yolanda Kondonassis, Alice Chalifoux, and Elizabeth Cifani.

As a supporter of new music, Dr. Freund has premiered orchestral works by Alan George S. Clinton, Greg D’Allesio, Jason Eckardt, and Laurence Rosenthal, among others.  She premiered the harp concerto “The Parting Glass” by Alan Terricciano with Northwestern University in 2011.  She was honored to premiered German-native Ulf Anneken’s harp solo “Liebesabenteur In Persien,” which bears a dedication to Ms. Freund.  She was a performer on world premiere recordings featured on Lewis Nielson’s album The Twittering Machine.  Her solo playing is featured on New York filmmaker Sean Gill’s works Crescendo and Thursday Night.  She frequently collaborates with composers, and has led workshops at the Henry Mancini Institute and Northwestern University.

Dr. Freund is an active composer of crossover solo and chamber works that seek to blend classical, folk, and modal elements in a minimalist style.  Her composition Merah for 5 harps was premiered in 2005 by the Oberlin Harp Ensemble.  She has composed a number of programmatic pedagogical pieces that seek to engage young harpists through technically progressive miniatures with optional accompaniment.

Specializations: Harp history, Harp pedagogy, Harp performance, Suzuki harp instruction