Lori Freedman is the best thing that ever happened to New Music. It is fantastic playing by a fantastic musician. Lori Freedman now owns my concerto” — composer John Corigliano, New York City
Conspicuously described as “a musical revolutionary,” she is known internationally as one of the most provocative and creative performers. Her work includes contemporary, improvised and electroacoustic music and she frequently extends into multidisciplined forms collaborating with dance, theatre and visual artists. Over thirty-five composers have written solo bass clarinet music for her and her work has been recorded on 28 CDs, most recently 3 (Montreal Trios, Ambiances Magnétiques), Thin Air and See Saw (Queen Mab Trio-Wig), Close (Queen Mab Duo—Spool), and Barbie’s Other Shoe (Queen Mab-9 Winds). Just prior to the release of her debut feature solo album Huskless! (Artifact) she received the 1998 Freddie Stone Award for the “demonstration of outstanding leadership, integrity and excellence in the area of contemporary music and jazz.” That cd won her the nomination for the Prairie Music Award 2000 as the “Most Outstanding Classical Recording. “Her second solo album, À un moment donné (Ambiances Magnétiques) has been receiving critical acclaim since its release and was nominated for Best Recording of Musique Actuelle by the Prix d’Opus 2003. “Clarinet never sounded so human-wildly curious, deeply soulful, swooping, swooning naked intimacy” — Juan Rodriguez, The Montreal Gazette.
Highlights from Freedman’s most recent activities include concerts with Joëlle Léandre, Suzie Ibarra, Iva Bittova, Maggie Nichols, Kaffe Matthews, Steve Lacy, George Lewis, Misha Mengleberg, Evan Parker, Mark Dresser, Joe McPhee, and Fred Frith. Recent events also saw Freedman: as a featured soloist in the SoundaXis Festival (Toronto) performing Échange by Iannis Xenakis; premiering her new solo bass clarinet composition Brief Candles; on a 30-city Europe/North America tour with the Queen Mab Trio; the solo concert production Dehors en dedans / There, in here, featuring works written for her, by her and by Canadian composers Ana Sokolvic, Bradshaw Pack, Monique Jean, André Ristic, Jacquie Leggatt and Jean Derome; solo improvisation performances at the World Bass Clarinet Conference in Rotterdam, the International Jazz Festivals in Guelph, Vancouver and Montreal.
Continuing on her live performance appearances, Freedman also has several recording projects and releases in the near future: The Seattle Trio (Gust Burns, pno, Tom Swafford, vln); 10 Situations (Tour de bras, Rimouski); Thomson/Freedman Duo (Scott Thomson, trombone); Décor sonore (M. Auclair, cello); Solor, the solo DVD project, an improvisation in the style of the rock-video.
“Clarinette virtuose, elle est d’une créativité sans cesse renouvelée… Profondément original.” — Gabriel Bélanger, All music guide
