Teaching Philosophy
My lute pedagogy is informed by a rigorous grounding in historical performance practice, balanced by a modern understanding of healthy hand use. From my doctoral training in psychology, I’ve learned the importance of a positive learning environment for musicians, mindful that the “crystallizing” experiences that set people on the road to a musical life don’t always take place in a formal educational settings. Hence, my Hippocratic–“First, do no harm.”
Bio
Douglas Freundlich launched his lute career with The Greenwood Consort, winning the Erwin Bodky Award and Musical America’s “Young Artist of the Year”. He has performed with many leading ensembles over the years, including the Boston Symphony, Boston Baroque, Emmanuel Music, The Musicians of Swanne Alley, Ex Machina, Capriole, Renaissonics, Hesperus, and the Revels.
Doug is a founding member of the Venere Lute Quartet, which has received praise from Amadeus, Early Music America, Goldberg, and Renaissance Magazines. His arrangements for lute quartet are featured on The Quartet’s recordings, Sweet Division, Palestrina’s Lute, and Airy Entertainments, all available through the Lute Society of America.
Doug has taught lute at Longy since 1979. He directed the Early Music program in the 1980s and served as Acting Early Music Chair in 2007. Other teaching has included Lute Society of America Seminars, Brandeis University, Amherst Early Music, and the Boston Early Music Festival Outreach program. Doug has twice received the Derek Bok Award for Excellence in Teaching for his work with undergraduates in the Core Program at Harvard.
Doug has commissioned many new works for the lute, and he edited the lute music of Betsy Warren for Wiscasset Press. He also cross-trains as a violone player and bebop bassist, catalogs early music manuscripts at Harvard, and teaches a popular course on music cognition at Tufts University. Doug has recorded for the TelArc, Titanic, Sine Qua Non, Revels, Radian Arts, and LSA labels.