Laura Hoffman

Biography

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, I have lived in Virginia, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Nova Scotia, and am now back in Virginia. In 2005, my husband and I proudly became dual citizens, when we were sworn in as Canadians.

I received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 and the Master of Arts degree in 1972 from Radford University in Radford, Virginia and the DMA in Composition in 1987 from the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, where I studied with Don Freund. Other teachers include Arthur Jannery, Harold Schiffman, John Corina, and Roy Johnson. I am married to Dr. Paul Hoffman, a Microbiologist.

In Canada I was an active member of the arts community as composer, teacher, and arts administrator; and received commissions from Upstream for Can If I Want To, a work incorporating improvisation; from Dalhousie University for Everything Is Free, a choral work on a text by Halifax poet George Elliott Clarke; and from CBC radio and the Aeolian Singers for Differing Views, an extended work for woman's chorus, piano and oboe. In 1989 Says Who!, for violin and piano, won the Memphis Composers' Alliance, Inc. violin composition contest. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1987) won the Mu Phi Epsilon Music Fraternity international composition contest in its division in 1989 and It will never, ever... for solo cello won in 1991. Since returning to the U.S., I have concentrated on creating order out of the chaos of moving ? and writing short works for piano. With influences ranging from a love of Bartok’s music to a childhood spent listening to Spike Jones, my music is eclectic and wide ranging.

Organizations

• A member of MTNA
• A member (President 2006-7) Charlottesville Music Teachers Association
• A Composer Member of the Canadian Music Centre
• A member of the the Canadian League of Composers
• A founding member of the Midsouth Composers' Forum
• A member of the American Music Center and the Society of Composers, Inc.
• Member Pi Kappa Lambda and Mu Phi Epsilon

My Music

My music has been performed in Canada, the United States and Australia. Click here for a list of compositions or an annotated list of selected compositions.

Further information

Pdf copy of my Resume