About

From the whistling windmills of the Dutch landscape to the buzzing insects of the South African savanna, Yvonne Freckmann translates the soundscape of life into her music. A multilingual musician who grew up playing the piano and clarinet, she found her voice by combining electroacoustic and freely tonal music into one, all while remaining rooted in the concert music tradition. Freckmann often draws great inspiration from other creatives, and collaborations across disciplines with visionary musicians, theatremakers, and visual artists have empowered her to further explore the possibilities of sound and create experiences that engage the mind.

Since the pandemic, Freckmann has composed many works influenced by this global event, including the a series of solos gifted to musicians “Postcard Miniatures Collection,” a short quarantine opera “Committed during Covid” with librettist Sheila Rinear, and a full-scale “Requiem, for the Victims of a Pandemic.” The “Requiem” is scored for SATB choir, chamber orchestra, and two soloists, and aims to bring healing as we begin to gather again after the tough years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the text is original- themes of breathing, solitude, loneliness, uncertainty and hope penned by the composer interweave with anonymous submissions of words and memories by choir members, creating a plurality of voices.

The world premiere performance of the “Requiem” was given during the “Choral Union Concert” in Laurie Auditorium on the Trinity University campus in San Antonio, Texas on March 4, 2023. Trinity University (Gary Seighman) and the University of the Incarnate Word (William Gokelman) choirs joined forces with the Trinity Symphony Orchestra (Joseph Kneer, director). The third consortium member is scheduled to perform the work in June.

UNDA Cellotrónica cover art

Freckmann’s music has been performed in over a dozen U.S. states and several countries, among them the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, Israel, and Malaysia, and she currently lives in Madrid, Spain. During her travels with a microphone in hand, Freckmann records material and meets other people who inspire compositions, as chronicled in the UNDA Cellotrónica album with cellist Clara Rivière, their debut album released in May 2020. The previous year Freckmann was commissioned by award-winning contemporary pioneer SOLI Chamber Ensemble to write Nest, an extended chamber work for mixed quartet with a soundtrack of field recordings of her home state of Texas. Over the past few years, Freckmann has worked on projects with harpist and theatremaker Iris van der Ende (The Voice of the Windmill and Under the Bridge), Zvov Trio (Zvov Sensory), Thompson Street Opera Company, Musical Bridges Around the World, and the Composers Alliance San Antonio, to name a few.

Among other major festivals, Freckmann has had works premiered and featured in Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Cultura Nova Festival, Audiosfera (Reina Sofia Museum Madrid), SEAMUS National Conference, and the NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival. For her composition Train (2014), Freckmann was awarded the PatsyLu Prize from the International Alliance of Women in Music “Search for New Music” in 2015. 

To continue developing her craft, Freckmann has served as artist-in-residence in the Netherlands at the Werkplaats K atelier with her group Klanktheater (2017/2018), with the Kunstmeile Krems in Austria (June 2018), and attended the Sonic Mmabolela Field Recording Workshop in South Africa (2016). She has earned master’s degrees in music composition at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague as a Fulbright Scholar, the University of Louisville as a Bomhard Fellow, and a bachelor’s degree in music in piano performance and composition from Trinity University, all under the tutelage of brilliant teachers.

For more information about my life as a composer, please visit my blog and check out my music and videos!

Workshops/Festivals

  • 2020 Audiosfera/Audiosphere – Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
  • 2019 MicroSound @ MicroTeatro Madrid
  • 2018 MUSLab Madrid, Spain
  • 2018 Gaudeamus Muziekweek
  • 2018 Grachtenfestival Amsterdam
  • 2018 Over Het IJ Festival
  • 2017 Gaudeamus Muziekweek “Senses Working Overtime”, the Netherlands
  • 2017 Cultura Nova Festival, the Netherlands
  • 2017 Aarhus Jazz Festival, Aarhus, Denmark
  • 2017 Kunstsymposium Oogsten in Margraten, the Netherlands
  • 2016 Mmabolela Field Recording Workshop in South Africa
  • 2016 Mekudeshet “Rustling” Festival with Zvov trio in Herzel Forest, Jerusalem
  • 2016 Florida International Toy Piano Festival in Tampa, Florida
  • 2015 Conlon Foundation Disklavier Workshop Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 2015 LaBO#5 Multimedia Workshop Antwerp, Belgium
  • 2014 Darmstadt Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany
  • 2014 SEAMUS National Conference in Middletown, CT – Clarinetist Dylan Lloyd performed Switch for clarinet & live electronics
  • 2013 UnCaged Toy Piano Festival in New York, NY – Pianist Kathy Supové premiered Toycycle
  • 2013 New Music Festival in Louisville, KY – Dr. Krista Wallace-Boaz performed Firebox for piano solo
  • 2013 New Fangled Opera Festival in New Orleans, LA
  • 2013 Thompson Street Opera Company Summer Season in Louisville, KY
  • 2012 New Music Festival at the University of Louisville – Mr. Sidney King performed Dance Suite for double bass.
  • 2012 Electronic Music Midwest – performance of Animal Opus
  • 2012 10th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music in San Francisco – performed my piano solo, Teufelstanz, as well as Hong-Da Chin‘s flute/piano piece Longing for Home.
  • 2012 Brevard Music Center
  • 2011 Electrogals Festival: Gals Gone Wired in Portland, OR
  • 2009 Czech-American Summer Music Institute in Prague
  • 2009 New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival
  • 2008 SCI Student National Conference
Yvonne performs Teufelstanz at the 10th Annual Contemporary Music Festival in San Francisco 2012.

Find out more!
blog
UNDA Cellotrónica
videos
Klanktheater
Zvov Sensory