Eleanor Everest Freer (born 14 May 1864, d. 13 Dec 1942) was an American composer and philanthropist.
Eleanor Everest was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Cornelius Everest and Ellen Amelia (Clark) Everest, and studied singing in Paris with
Mathilde Marchesi and composition with
Benjamin Godard. She taught music in Philadelphia and New York City, and married Chicago doctor Archibald Freer in 1893. The couple had one daughter and moved to Chicago in 1899, where Eleanor Freer studied music theory with Bernard Ziehn. In 1934, she received a D.Mus. from the Boguslawski College of Music.
Freer was the founder of the Opera in Our Language Foundation (OOLF) in 1921 and the American Opera Society of Chicago (AOSC). She died in Chicago in 1942.
Freer's one act opera "The Legend of the Piper" was performed numerous times by the American Opera Company from 1928 through 1929.
Freer composed eleven operas and more than 150 songs, many of which were published in collections. Selected works include:
