Dorothy Freed

Dorothy Whitson Freed MNZM (10 February 1919 – 1 April 2000) was a New Zealand author, composer, and music historian.

Her father was James Gerald Stokely Doorly, a mariner and Antarctic explorer, musician, and author, and her mother was Forrestina Muriel Whitson.

She also underwent additional compositional training from 1964 to 1966, when she travelled to London and studied with composers Peter Racine Fricker and Elisabeth Rutyens.

As part of her work, she helped to found SOUNZ, the Centre For New Zealand Music, which is an online library that contains a large selection of scores, CDs, books, and resources.

[6] This library also contains biographical information about composers, helping to create a comprehensive database for the preservation of New Zealand music.

“A Grandmother’s Story” was written for her granddaughters, and follows her personal account of her early life, her marriage, her time at the University of Wellington, and her career as a musician and librarian.