The daughter of Aron Belinfante and Georgine Antoinette Hesse, Frieda descended from a line of Sephardic Jews who arrived in the Netherlands in the 17th century and whose ancestry can be traced back to 16th-century Portugal.

She graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory and made her professional debut in the Kleine Zaal recital hall of the Concertgebouw at age 17, assisted at the piano by her father.

[4] Belinfante held this position until 1941, and it made her the first woman in Europe to be artistic director and conductor of an ongoing professional orchestral ensemble.

In 2023 the English actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry made a documentary about Belinfante and Arondeus's wartime resistance activity, notably the "all-night forgery parties fuelled by booze and amphetamines [that] saved thousands of Jews".

[8] Belinfante emigrated to the United States in 1947, eventually settling in Laguna Beach, California and joining the music faculty of UCLA in 1949.

[9] Desiring to continue her conducting activities, she formed an ad hoc group she named The Vine Street Players in 1953, an orchestral ensemble of colleagues from the local area universities as well as studio musicians from Hollywood.

The orchestral musicians agreed to donate their time for rehearsals free of charge with the permission of their union local stewards, while receiving a fee for the performances as Belinfante herself did.

The founding board of directors adopted Belinfante's suggestions as their business plan with the stated mission of maintaining a resident professional orchestra in the county.

[11] Under Belinfante's direction, the orchestra grew into a "B"-class[clarification needed] musical institution taking into account its budget, programming and geographical penetration in the ensuing years.

Soloists who were engaged to appear with the orchestra during the inaugural period included Lili Kraus, Leonard Pennario, Marni Nixon, Dorothy Warenskjold, and Mischa Elman.

Additionally, board members and supporters from the community felt a male conductor would raise the stature of the orchestra and increase revenue.

Belinfante's solo, concerto and chamber performances were characterized by a singular beauty of tone, faultless intonation and legato, complete technique, profound involvement with the music, and an expressive interpretation free of mannerism.

She also joined the board of directors of the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society, acting as booking agent and artistic advisor to that group for more than 20 years.

In 1987, the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the City of Laguna Beach both declared February 19 'Frieda Belinfante Day", honoring her contributions to musical culture in the region.

[17] In 1994, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum officially recognized Belinfante's contribution to the Dutch Resistance in World War II.