Dr. Tamara Reps Freeman
Holocaust Music Educator And Performer
Meet Dr. Freeman
MISSION STATEMENT: Dr. Freeman encourages justice and racial respect for people of all ages, backgrounds and ethnicities through Holocaust music and culture. Her Holocaust music classes and lecture recitals help people find personal relevance to the lessons and legacies of music and arts created in the WWII ghettos and concentration camps. Each song and instrumental piece is taught and performed in a way that speaks to universal humanistic needs for dignity and affirmation.
VALUES: Dr. Freeman respects the abilities and vulnerabilities in each person with whom she interacts, whether in a personal meeting, classroom setting in person or on zoom, or addressing a large audience. She gently, yet effectively, draws her students and audiences into Holocaust prose and melodies with psychological acuity. Her professional training as a concert violinist, violist and conductor informs the highest quality of performances for herself and her fellow musicians, both amateur and professional.
VISION: Dr. Freeman’s vision is to help others envision themselves as agents for positive and ethical change in the world.
Dr. Tamara Freeman, a Holocaust ethnomusicologist, educator and concert violist teaches powerful lessons of morality and courage through Holocaust music. Holding a Doctorate from Rutgers University, her dedication to Holocaust education began in 1994 with the inception of the NJ state mandate for Holocaust genocide education. The mandate inspired her to craft a K-12 interdisciplinary music curriculum that encourages racial respect. Dr. Freeman is an adjunct professor at Montclair NJ State University Cali School of Music, Yeshiva University and Saint Elizabeth University, focusing on Holocaust music, culture and education.
In 2018, she directed“Voices of Hope” in Nashville TN, showcasing 250 multicultural students performing a full concert of archival Holocaust songs in Yiddish.
Dr. Freeman performs lecture-recitals playing her 1935 Joseph Bausch viola, a Holocaust relic, at esteemed venues such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
From 1982-2012, Dr. Freeman taught instrumental and vocal music in the Ridgewood, NJ Public Schools. She authored the music curriculum for the 2014 Emmy-nominated documentary, “The Defiant Requiem.” She is a contributing author in “Voices of Democracy in Music Education: Diversity and Social Justice in the Classroom,” Routledge Press, 2015. She is a member of the international Association for Holocaust Organizations and the International Society for Music Educators.
Holocaust Ethnomusicology:
Dr. Freeman possesses a vast knowledge of vocal and instrumental archival Holocaust music composed by Jewish people across Europe. She also has a deep understanding and respect for the musical contributions of other persecuted populations such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Roma and Sinai people and Christian missionaries.
Music Education & Curriculum Development:
With three degrees in Music Education and many decades of teaching, Dr. Freeman has a strong foundation in creating and implementing lesson plans interdisciplinary curricula that is custom designed to meet the specific cultural and pedagogical needs of students, schools and communities.
Concert Performance & Directing:
Dr. Freeman performs lecture-recitals playing her 1935 Joseph Bausch viola, a Holocaust relic, at esteemed venues such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC., the Chautauqua NY Summer Institute, the Museum of Tolerance in NYC and the Holocaust Museum in El Paso TX.
Holocaust Advocacy & Public Speaking:
Dr. Freeman’s engaging Holocaust music lecture-recitals have taken her to prominent venues such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Dr. Freeman’s ability to engage and educate audiences, combined with her dedication to Holocaust remembrance, underscores her skills as both an advocate for social justice and a captivating public speaker.
Dr. Tamara Reps Freeman’s Performance Calendar
2024
2023
2:00 p.m. JCC of Northern NJ: Music Composed in the WWII Ghettos and Concentration Camps.
Temple Avodat Shalom, River Edge NJ
7:30 p.m. Jewish Community Center, Edison NJ. Keynote speaker on Holocaust music
Cafe Europa Survivors’ program of Holocaust Music Congregation Oheb Shalom, South Orange NJ
2:00 p.m. Zoom lecture-recital for Anachnu, Stanford CT
7:30 p.m. Yeshiva University: Holocaust music lecture-recital
Thursday, November 12, 2023
7:00 p.m. Temple Beth Tikvah: Holocaust music lecture-recital
2022
2:00 p.m. Zoom Lecture Recital, Congregation for Humanistic Judaism Sarasota Florida
Drew University Holocaust music workshop, 5:30-8:00 p.m.
ministerial music zoom class for Milligan University, TN
Lecture Recital for Cafe Europa, Metrowest, 11:00 a.m.
Ridgewood NJ Annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration, Temple Israel & JCC. 7:30 p.m.
2021
Holocaust Music Series on zoom, featuring the music and voices of the Roma
Sponsored by Temple Israel & JCC, Ridgewood • 8:00-9:00 p.m.
contact the synagogue to get a zoom link (201) 444-9320
Holocaust Music Series on zoom, featuring the music and voices of the female partisans and Jehovah’s Witnesses
Sponsored by Temple Israel & JCC, Ridgewood • 8:00-9:00 p.m.
contact the synagogue to get a zoom link (201) 444-9320
Holocaust Music Series on zoom, featuring the music and voices of the Jewish children
Sponsored by Temple Israel & JCC, Ridgewood • 8:00-9:00 p.m.
contact the synagogue to get a zoom link (201) 444-9320
2020
Guest lecturer for World Cultures Class, Rutgers University
Lucy Stone Hall, A 143, Livingston Campus 3:20-4:30 p.m.
March 11 – May 6, 2020
Holocaust Music Culture graduate course (ED660) on zoom
Saint Elizabeth University
Adath Shalom Synagogue, Morris Plains, NJ
Religious School Workshops and Lecture-Recital
Annual Ridgewood Holocaust Commemoration
Temple Israel & JCC, Ridgewood NJ. 7:30 p.m.
Bayonne, NJ City Hall Yom HaShoah Commemoration, 6:00 p.m.
Music of Faith, Conviction and Courage
Holocaust Music Lecture Recital
Knoxville, TN
Holocaust Music Workshop for Choir Students
2019
Holocaust Music Teacher Training Workshop
Montclair State University, John J. Cali School of Music
9:00 a.m. – noon
March 4-8 SUNY Binghamton, Scholar in Residence
March 4: Colonization, Violence & Genocide class
March 5: History of Western Music class and Judaic Studies on the Holocaust
March 5: Encouraging Racial Respect Through Holocaust Music, continuing education workshop
March 7: Holocaust music recital, University Art Museum 5:00 p.m.
March 8: Holocaust music workshop for Masters in Social Work Diversity and Oppression class
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2018
Montclair State University, Montclair NJ
Sacher Distinguished Lecture 1:00 p.m.
with the Heimat String Quartet
Holocaust music lecture-recital
Bright View, Paramus NJ 3:00
John J. Cali School of Music
Montclair State University
Director Series Lecture-Recital 8:00 p.m.
Violins of Hope Docents Workshop
Nashville, TN via Skype
CONTACT DR. FREEMAN
Copryright 2023 Tamara Freeman. All rights Reserved.