The Reverend Norm Freeman

The Reverend Norm Freeman has earned Bachelor’s and Master’s of music degrees from The Juilliard School, and a Master of Divinity degree from the General Theological Seminary, New York.

Norm served as curate of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Riverside, Connecticut before moving west with his family to become Episcopal chaplain for the University of California at Santa Barbara and vicar of St. Michael and All Angels Church in Isla Vista. 

In 1999 the Jazz Vespers that Norm began at St. Paul’s inspired a full-page story in the Sunday edition of The New York Times entitled, “Where Music and the Ministry Merge.” 

Norm’s musical career includes performances with the New York Philharmonic, Barbra Streisand’s 1994 Concert Tour, the Jessye Norman/ Kathleen Battle spirituals concert, the New York Pops, the 1999 “MTV Music Video Awards,” Saturday Night Live with Pavarotti and Vanessa Williams, Metallica, numerous Broadway shows, the New York premiere of Paul McCartney’s Standing Stone with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and Jessye Norman’s Christmas CD, In the Spirit.  

Norm served for eleven years as Percussion Department chair at Mannes College of Music—a division of the New School for Social Research in Manhattan.  He has performed on four Grammy-nominated projects, including the Grammy Award-winning New York Philharmonic recording of Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. 

Norm is a Yamaha Artist. On October 22, 2004 he performed the world premiere of Pulitzer prize winning composer, Melinda Wagner’s “57/ 7 Dash” at Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops under the direction of Skitch Henderson. Maestro Henderson commissioned the work, featuring Norm and the orchestra’s percussion section. Fr. Norm resides in Laguna Hills where he serves as Rector of St. George's Church and Headmaster of the Academy.