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B i o g r a p h y

A pianist of unique versatility, Timothy Hoft has been praised for his recent performances. “Hoft’s objective approach to performing new music was especially successful…[his] precise control of dynamics and quiet approach to the keyboard with a perfect technique led to a beautiful, automatic sense of music making…” (Michael Lodico, Ionarts.org).  His debut CD, Reflections on Ukrainian Piano Music Vol. I, has also been favorably reviewed.  “Here is piano music that needs to be known, piano music that abounds with visceral vibrancy and expressive intensity, not to mention being skillfully and subtly wrought for the instrument. Timothy Hoft’s ardent and caring virtuosity is captured in superb, lifelike sonics. You can’t ask for a more auspicious start to what promises to be an important series.” (Jed Distler, Gramophone critic)

Hoft has given performances as soloist and chamber musician in the concert halls of Ukraine, Russia, Poland, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, and the U.S., including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection, the Yamaha Piano Salon, the Ukrainian Institute of America, the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, and the Smith Center. He has performed with ensembles such as the Lviv Philharmonic, Phillips Camerata, Peabody Camerata, Peabody Wind Ensemble, UNLV Symphony Orchestra, UNLV Wind Ensemble, Henderson Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra. 

 

A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Peabody Conservatory, Hoft holds Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral Degrees in piano performance. His primary teachers were Logan Skelton and Benjamin Pasternack. During his graduate studies, Hoft was awarded a fellowship through the La Gesse Foundation, giving him numerous performances in Europe and in the U.S.  He was also granted the Earl Wild Scholarship of the Ivory Classics Foundation, allowing him to study with the legendary pianist, Earl Wild.

 

Hoft is an Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he teaches solo and collaborative piano. Hoft is currently exploring and performing solo piano repertoire of 20th and 21st century Ukrainian composers, including the Nocturnals of Virko Baley, the piano sonatas of Valentin Silvestrov, the monumental cycle of 34 Preludes and Fugues by Valentin Bibik, the piano sonatas of Boris Lyatoshynsky, and others, for a series of recordings entitled Reflections on Ukrainian Piano Music, to be released on the Troppe Note/Cambria label.

timothy hoft piano unlv las vegas pianist

Photo by Katya Chilingiri

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