Joel Hoffman

new commission

Thu, Jul. 17 2008

JH has been commissioned to write a cello quartet for the Washington-based group "Four in Correspondence", all members of the National Symphony Orchestra. The new piece will be performed in the fall of '09.

2 new items

Thu, Jul. 17 2008

...have been added: An MP3 clip of "Blue and Yellow" for flute and piano (in a wonderful performance by Leah Arsenault and Shiau-uen Ding); and a score excerpt of "Cadenza e Finale RMV", the final variation of the "Round Midnight Variations", a unique set of variations each written by a different composer and including variations by Frederic Rzewski, John Harbison, Milton Babbitt, George Crumb, Michael Torke, Michael Daugherty and many others. The complete set will be recorded soon by Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli.

new commission

Mon, Jun. 23 2008

JH has been commissioned by "Sunday Afternoons of Music" in Miami, Florida to write a work for cellist Gary Hoffman and the Amernet String Quartet. The piece is scheduled to be performed late in 2009.

new commission

Fri, Apr. 11 2008

JH has been commissioned by RAI Trade of Rome, Italy to write a piece for piano quartet commemorating the 200th birthday of Robert Schumann (1810-1856). The work will be musically linked with Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat, op. 47. This piece will be recorded with other Hoffman works for a CD release in 2010.

New composition course in Brac, Croatia

Wed, Jan. 30 2008

In July, 2008 JH will be leading a composition course as part of the "UPBEAT" International Summer Music School in the town of Milna on the beautiful Adriatic island of Brac, Croatia. The dates of the course are 1 through 11 July. For a complete description of activities and events, please go to http://public.srce.hr/hdgp/upbeat/ Go to "Programme", scroll down to the Composition Course and click on "Composition"

new CD release of "Fantasy Pieces"

Fri, Jan. 11 2008

Gasparo Records has just released an album of American piano music played by James Tocco. The CD includes works by Foss, Heiden, Downey and JH's "Fantasy Pieces". This disc can be found at all major internet suppliers as well as directly from Gasparo Records at
http://www.gasparo.com

Music08

Mon, Dec. 31 2007

JH is the Artistic Director of Music08, an annual festival of new music at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. The dates of Music08 are 15 through 22 June. Principal guest composers are Steve Reich, Jack Body and Frederic Rzewski. Please go to
http://www.ccm.uc.edu/musicx/index.html

new MP3 of "Karptet"

Sat, Aug. 4 2007

"Karptet" was recently recorded by the Karp family for an upcoming CD release. You can hear a 6' excerpt by going to the "works" page.

new commission

Wed, May. 9 2007

JH has been commissioned to write a piece for the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Misha Santora, Music Director for the 08-09 season. Details later.

more new MP3s

Wed, May. 9 2007

Please go to the "works" page: there are a number of new sound files including "Three Oranges", "Three Snapshots", "Round Midnight Variation", "Stone Soup", "Portogruaro Sextet", "Krakow Variations", Divertimento" and "L'Immensita' dell"Attimo".

new commissions

Thu, Oct. 12 2006

JH has just been commissioned to write four solo pieces--one each for violin, viola, cello and double bass--as part of the 2007 Irving M Klein String Competition in San Francisco, CA. The pieces will be performed by participants in the competition. For information on the competition, see: www.kleincompetition.org/index.html

Piano Trios CD just released

Fri, Sep. 8 2006

On 1 September, Albany Records released "Joel Hoffman: Three Piano Trios". Howard, Frances, Christopher and Parry Karp are the superb musicians performing on this disc, which is available from most distributors as well as directly from Albany Records: http://www.albanyrecords.com/

new commission

Sat, Sep. 2 2006

JH has been commissioned to write a concerto for oud, cello and orchestra. The soloists will be Arab-Israeli oud player Taiseer Elias and Israeli cellist Uri Vardi. The first performances are scheduled for March 2008 with the Madison (WI) Symphony Orchestra, John DeMain conductor.

new commission

Thu, Oct. 20 2005

JH has just been commissioned by Christopher Karp to write a work for violin, viola, cello and four-hand piano. This is the third in a series of works commissioned by Karp (the others are Piano Trios 2 and 3) for concerts by members of the Karp family, pianists Howard and Frances Karp, cellist Parry Karp and violinist Chrikstopher Karp.

new CD

Fri, Oct. 7 2005

There are now two recordings of "Self-Portrait with Gebirtig"; the second CD is a performance by cellist Milan Hudnik with the Slovenian Radio Orchestra of Lubliana, Slovenia. The web site for the label is:
http://www.rtvslo.si/simfoniki/diskografija.php

Details on the "recordings" page.

Aleksander Tansman Competition

Sun, Aug. 28 2005

JH has been selected, along with Krzysztof Penderecki, Heinz Holliger, Michael Nyman and others, to participate as a member of the jury of the Aleksander Tansman International Composition Competition to be held in Lodz, Poland in October, 2006. The head of the jury is distinguished Polish composer Zygmunt Krause. Details:
http://www.tansman.lodz.pl

new commission

Sun, Aug. 28 2005

JH has been commissioned by WGUC-FM in Cincinnati to write "String Quartet no. 4" for the Athenaeum Quartet, which is composed of four members of the Berlin Philharmonic. The new piece will be performed in Berlin, Cincinnati, and in various venues in Italy. The commission is sponsored by Cincinnati resident Stanley Troup
http://www.berlin-philharmonic.com/de/kammermusik/

new commissions

Tue, Mar. 1 2005

JH is currently working on three new commissions: a new work for the premiere new music ensemble eighth blackbird, commissioned by the University of Cincinnati; a new work for the Amernet String Quartet, commissioned by the Caramoor Festival of New York; a new work for men's choir and two harps to be performed by the Washington (DC) Camerata, commissioned by James Pinkerton.