Stanford Dale Freese (born August 21, 1944)[1] is an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, and talent booking director best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company.
[1] After some instruction from his father, he became quite prolific and spent the next several years competing and performing around the Midwest with school marching bands and as a solo musical comedy act.
[1] At age 14, Freese made a solo tuba performance on an episode of Lawrence Welk's Top Tunes and New Talent television show, sharing billing with the Lennon Sisters and Pete Fountain.
[1] Freese began his music career as a teenager, playing fairs, nightclubs, and corporate events in the Midwest as a solo act or in a trio with accordion champion Leonard "Skeets" Langley.
[1][2] When they returned from the successful seven-week tour that May, Freese and the band performed for President Richard Nixon and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin in the Rose Garden at the White House.
[1] After receiving a lot of notoriety from his performance at the White House, Freese resigned from his teaching position in early 1971 to work in the Los Angeles area as a session musician.
[1] Freese arrived at Walt Disney World in September of 1971, and helped audition musicians for the marching band, as well as other musical groups for the park and resort hotels.
[1] In 2001, Freese became the talent booker and show director for the Downtown Disney shopping complex at the Disneyland Resort, organizing the atmosphere entertainment program.
[1] Freese stayed in Japan for several weeks in the lead-up to the park's opening in September of 2001 to rehearse and get the acts ready, which included several music ensembles.
From 1977 to 1981, Freese played tuba in the live band for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus whenever the traveling show came to the Southern California area.
[1] In 1980, Freese was asked again by the University of Minnesota and Dr. Frank Bencriscutto to appear as a featured tuba soloist in another U.S. government-sponsored international goodwill tour—this time in China.
[2] The tour lated several weeks in June and July, and gained international recognition as the first American concert band to play in China in over 30 years.
[1] When Freese retired from Disney in 2016, he became a full-time entertainment consultant with clients such as the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and Knott's Berry Farm.
[4] Also in 2007, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records as producer of the largest all-tuba ensemble in the world—consisting of over 500 tubas performing in Tubachristmas concert at Downtown Disney.