Album Notes

Warren Fremling has been a professional singer since 1960. Caught up in the folk music craze of the 1960’s, he sang, marched, protested and entertained audiences in the Midwest for 10 years, including entertaining the wounded under the auspices of the Red Cross from 1963 – 1969 at Great Lakes Naval Base.

Following graduation from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, he pursued an operatic career appearing with the Chicago Opera Theater, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Educational Television and as a guest artist at colleges and universities throughout the Midwest in such operatic fare as "La Traviata", "Cosi fan tutte", "The Marriage of Figaro", "The Tales of Hoffmann", "The Magic Flute", "The Mother of Us All"; and in musical theater as “Billy Bigelow” in Carousel, “Henry Higgins” in My Fair Lady and “El Gallo” in The Fantasticks, to name a few. He was part of Rudolph Nureyev’s farewell tour singing Mahler’s "Lied eines fahrenden gesellen" to Mr. Nureyev’s interpretive dance, and was recommended for a White House recital in the late '80's.

Throughout his career he has always included folk song arrangements in his recitals. This album represents a return to the place where he started. It was folk music that originally caused him to study singing, which lead to leads in Broadway musicals and eventually to opera. It was folk music that taught him how to relate a text – in ANY language – and to concentrate not just on good vocalism, but on the tale to be told and how to bring the audience on stage with him. The final piece, "How Can I Keep From Singing", is the arrangement he used when he sang at his voice teacher’s (the late baritone Walter Cassel) Memorial Service at Indiana University. Its uplifting message represents his philosophy.

Mr. Fremling holds an Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Doctorate from the American Conservatory of Music. He's married and the father of two children, Matt and Katie.