Stan Freese

Stanford Dale Freese (born August 21, 1944) is an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, and talent booking director best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company.

Born in Iowa and raised in Minnesota, Freese is a tuba player and worked in Disney's theme park division for 45 years—specifically Disney Live Entertainment. He contributed to entertainment projects at the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and Tokyo Disney Resort as a performer, bandleader, talent booker, show director, and producer. 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. In 1997, he was the recipient of the Classic Conference Fine Arts and Distinguished Service Award. In 2007, Freese was inducted into the Edina Hall of Fame and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the University of Minnesota. 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. In 2008, Freese received the Disney Entertainment Excellence Award. In 2009 and 2010, he was recognized by the United States Armed Forces School of Music for participation and training of United States Army senior bandleaders for the United States military bands. In 2010, he received the Disney Entertainment Hall of Fame Award and the NAMM Association School JAM USA Award on behalf of the Walt Disney Company. In 2011, he received the Orange County Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, Freese received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Tuba Euphonium Association.

Personal life Freese married Patricia Weatherhead, a fellow musician and coed in both high school and college, on June 25, 1971. Josh is drummer and a member of The Vandals, Devo, and Foo Fighters. Jason, a keyboardist and saxophonist, is primarily a studio musician and has been touring with Green Day since 2004. The marriage ended in divorce in May of 1987 due to Freese's alcoholism.

Freese has struggled with alcohol addiction since the age of 16. After his divorce, Freese checked himself into rehab and attended Alcoholics Anonymous—remaining sober ever since. Freese now encourages and sponsors friends, coworkers, and family as they go through addiction recovery and AA, including his two sons.

Freese married Tera Abercrombie, whom he met while she worked at one of the stores in Downtown Disney, on September 5, 2004. They live in Placentia, California. Freese has six grandchildren between his two sons.