YOUR INSTRUCTORS
KENNETH WOMACK
Kenneth Womack is one of the world’s foremost writers and thinkers about the Beatles. In addition to such titles as Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles (2007), Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles (2019), and The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four (2014), he is the author of a two-volume biography devoted to the life and work of Beatles producer George Martin, including Maximum Volume (2017) and Sound Pictures (2018), and John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life (2020). His latest book, Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans (2023), traces the extraordinary life and times of the Beatles’ roadie. He is also the author of four novels, including John Doe No. 2 and the Dreamland Motel (2010), The Restaurant at the End of the World (2012), Playing the Angel (2013), and I Am Lemonade Lucy! (2019).
Ken serves as Professor of English and Popular Music at Monmouth University. He is the founding Editor of Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory, published by Penn State University Press, and Co-Editor of the English Association’s prodigious Year’s Work in English Studies, published by Oxford University Press. Over the years, he has shared his work with public libraries and community organizations across the nation, including audiences at Princeton University, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Grammy Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the 92nd Street Y. He has also served as an expert commentator for the BBC, NPR, ABC’s 20/20, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and NBC’s Access Hollywood.
Ken’s work as teacher and writer has earned numerous awards, including the Grace D. Long Faculty Excellence Award (2002), Penn State University’s Alumni Teaching Fellow Award (2006), Northern Illinois University’s Golden Anniversary Alumni Award (2009), Penn State Altoona’s Honorary Alumni Award (2009), and the Kjell Meling Award for Distinction in the Arts and Humanities (2010). In 2013, Ken was selected to serve as the sixth Penn State University Laureate.
In addition to studying Russian language and literature at the Moscow Institute of Communication, Ken earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in English from Northern Illinois University. He lives in West Long Branch, New Jersey, with his wife Jeanine.
SCOTT FREIMAN
Scott Freiman may be the only person to have sold out Carnegie Hall and been a Finalist for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. He is also a leading expert on the music of the Beatles who has appeared in several films and TV series about the Fab Four.
Scott is the creator of Deconstructing The Music, a series of unique multimedia lectures on the songwriting and production techniques of musicians. He has presented his lectures to sold-out audiences at theaters nationwide and has spoken at colleges, universities, and corporations, such as Pixar, Google, and Facebook. In the Fall of 2012, he taught a semester course on “The Beatles In The Studio” at Yale University. He co-hosts the monthly Fab Four Master Class with fellow musicologist Kenneth Womack with whom he leads annual Beatles-themed trips to Liverpool and London.
Scott is featured in eleven Deconstructing the Beatles films currently showing in theatres and available on DVD and streaming. His six part series, Deconstructing the Beatles, premiered on Maryland Public Television in February 2024 and will be airing on PBS stations nationwide in early 2025. His first non-Beatles “deconstruction” (on Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon) premieres in August 2024.
Scott was the co-founder and CEO of Qwire Inc., a technology company creating software to integrate the work of everyone involved with music for picture. The company’s software has been used to streamline music tracking and rights management for large studios and music companies, such as NBCUniversal and SESAC.
Scott was a co-founder of Credit Management Solutions, Inc., a leading financial software company where he served as CEO. A Finalist for Ernst & Young’s Maryland Entrepreneur of the Year, Scott helped lead CMSI’s successful public offering and orchestrated the sale of CMSI to the First American Corporation.
In 2001, after fifteen years of running a public company, Scott embarked on a new career as a composer, music producer, and studio owner. He owned Second Act Studio, a state-of-the-art music and video studio for composition, recording, and production designed by renowned studio architect, John Storyk. Second Act Studio played host to a wide range of musicians -- from children to Grammy winners, such as bassist John Patitucci and the Tokyo String Quartet. he produced, arranged, and played keyboards for many of the artists he worked with.
Scott acted as the composer, arranger, and sound editor for films and TV series. His original music was performed at a sold-out Carnegie Hall concert, “Composed By Scott Freiman,” and featured an orchestra, a George Bush impersonator, and a children’s choir.
Scott was an instructor for MacProVideo.com, providing online video training in professional software, and taught composing and music technology to children and adults.
Scott holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Music from Yale University and a Masters of Music Composition from New York University. He is married to Allison Fine, the President of Every.org and an acclaimed author and speaker on AI and philanthropy. He has three children, Max, Zack, and Jack, who are all doing great things and (most importantly) no longer on his payroll.
