Hoffman, Irwin

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Hoffman, Irwin

Hoffman, Irwin, American conductor; b. N.Y., Nov. 26, 1924. He studied violin at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. From 1952 to 1964 he was music director of the Vancouver (B.C.) Sym. Orch. He was assoc. conductor of the Chicago Sym. Orch. (1964–70), serving as its acting music director (1968–69). In 1968 he was made music director of the Fla. Gulf Coast Sym. Orch., which post he retained when it became the Fla. Orch. in 1984; after stepping down in 1987, he was made its music director laureate. From 1972 to 1976 he was also chief conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de la RTBF (Belgian Radio and Television) in Brussels. In 1987 he was appointed music director of the Orquesta Sinfònica Nacional of Costa Rica in San José.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire