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Description of  An American Dream, Realized: From the Tenements of New York City to the Eastman School of Music to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1909-1997)

An eloquently vibrant account of life in the first half of the twentieth century, and a true love story. Henry Freeman grew up in the seedy tenements of New York City in the 1910s and 20s. His father, a trumpeter who had played for John Philip Sousa, made his living playing for the silent pictures and vaudeville theatres and was for a time blackballed by the New York musicians union for helping to organize a strike. Harry Freeman, the father, however, soon won a position as the first professor of trumpet at the new Eastman School of Music in Rochester, but continued to prevent Henry and his two brothers from taking any music lessons. Said Harry, it was too hard and poorly compensated a profession he urged Henry to take up banking. Read more