Jan Hoffman (11 June 1906 – 25 October 1995) was a Polish pianist and music educator.

Biography

Jan Hoffman was born in Kraków and studied with

Józef Śliwiński Józef Śliwiński (15 December 1865, in Warsaw – 1930) was a Polish classical pianist, one of the outstanding interpreters of the poetic and romantic repertoire, especially Chopin and Schumann. He was taught by Theodor Leschetizky and Anton Rub ...

and Wiktor Łabuński at the Conservatory of Music in Kraków, receiving a diploma in 1928. He continued his studies in Berlin with

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen but in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professional vio ...

and worked in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, teaching music at the school of Sabina Kasparek. After completing his studies, he took as position from 1931 to 1933 as professor in the Kraków Conservatory. Near the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he gave private lessons in Kraków,

Bielsko Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that tow ...

and

. In 1941 he was an associate professor in the Krakow Conservatory, but during the war years, he hid from the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, teaching, performing and conducting works by contemporary Polish composers secretly. After the war, Hoffman was among the co-founders of the State Higher School of Music in Kraków (after 1979 the Academy of Music), and served at the school in a number of position, including dean, department head, vice-rector and president from 1966 to 1968. He retired in 1978, but continued to teach, including master classes. He also served as jury member for a number of international piano competitions, and was active in the Association of Polish Artists and Musicians and the Frédéric Chopin Association, serving on the board of directors. From 1926 to 1968, Hoffman worked in

Polish Radio Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland. History Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...

. He also edited a number of works for publication including a selection of songs. He died in Kraków.

Awards

*Officer and Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1950) *Order of the Banner of Labour *Distinguished Teacher of the PRL *Minister of Culture and Art Award (1964, 1968, 1986)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman 1906 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Polish pianists Polish music educators Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Musicians from Kraków Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)