Lional "Brother El" Freeman

Lional “Brother El” Freeman is a Chicago-based composer, Live PA electronic artist, audio engineer, educator, and multidisciplinary creative whose work moves between sound, media, youth authorship, public-space activation, and community healing. Raised in the hip hop aesthetic and DIY movement, Freeman uses sequencers, synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, field recordings, and visual media to create immersive experiences rooted in improvisation, ancestral memory, and South Side cultural innovation.

As founder of The Beat Bank and Executive Director of Sonic Explorations, Freeman designs performances, workshops, media programs, and public activations that help young people and communities build creative confidence, technical fluency, and ownership over their own narratives. His projects include student-generated media networks, live electronic performance, documentary storytelling, sound-based wellness experiences, and large-scale cultural gatherings such as Sandbox Symphony and Sounds Natural. Across his work, Freeman treats sound as both an artistic language and a tool for connection, reflection, and liberation.

Freeman has collaborated with schools, parks, cultural institutions, and community organizations throughout Chicago, including Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, CAPE, Urban Gateways, Old Town School of Folk Music, DCASE, The University of Chicago, Loyola University, and other arts and education partners. His practice is grounded in the belief that creative technology can unlock possibility, deepen self-expression, and help communities imagine new futures together.