 In 1959, she qualified and began her career as a librarian in Wellington.She also underwent additional compositional training from 1964 to 1966, when she travelled to London and studied with composers Peter Racine Fricker and Elisabeth Rutyens.From the start of her tenure as a librarian in 1959 to her retirement in 1986, Freed worked tirelessly as a music librarian, as well as an advocate for other New Zealand composers.