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Alf Hoffmann

children‘s concerts - family concerts
Texts: Paul Maar, Monika Reimers

Paul Maar author (1937)

Born in Schweinfurt in 1937, Paul Maar studied painting and art history.
Today he lives in Bamberg and works as a freelance author and illustrator. As one of the most significant German authors of children's and youth literature, he has written many books for children and young people as well as radio narratives and children's theatre pieces and worked as an illustrator. His most popular and most read works include the tale of the “Sams” a cheeky fantasy creature, the tale of “Lippel‘s Dream“, the tale of the „Small Kangaroo” and „Mr. Bello“.
Paul Maar has been honoured with many prestigious awards such as
the GERMAN YOUTH LITERATURE PRIZE,
the AUSTRIAN STATE PRIZE,
the BROTHERS -GRIMM PRIZE,
the GRAND PRIZE BY THE GERMAN ACADEMY FOR CHILDREN'S -AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE
and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF GERMAN YOUTH LITERATURE for his complete works.
His theatre plays and books have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Monika Reimers author (1938 - 2003)

Whilst she was working as a teacher in Dortmund Monika Reimers decided to concentrate her work on combining educational and artistic activities, something which she saw as a challenge for young people.
She was responsible for many successful school productions, all of which involved music which had been specially composed for the occasion.
She then trained as a director and conducted improvisation workshops and performances for people of all ages. In addition she made a major contribution to developing circus skills within schools. This work culminated in a collaboration between the children and a professional circus.
From 1989 onwards she wrote the texts for Alf Hoffmann children’s concert pieces.

Alf Hoffmann composer (1951)

Alf Hoffmann studied violin and conducting at the Music Academy in Freiburg, Germany. He has been a violinist with the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra since 1977. Since then he has turned his attention increasingly to composition.
His works include a great number of chamber-music pieces and theatre music for school performances. The latter led him to become interested in working with children and young people.
His collaboration with the teacher and author Monika Reimers began in 1989 when he was commissioned to write a children concert for the Dortmund Opera House. Since then the two have created five children’s concert pieces which have received a number of productions in Germany and Switzerland. Some of these have also been conducted by Alf Hoffmann.
The Dortmund Theatre (which comprises the Opera House) has a department entitled „School in the Opera House“. As part of this programme Alf Hoffmann regularly visits schools in order to give the children an idea of what it is like to be a professional composer and orchestral musician.

Links:

www.kinderkonzerte-hoffmann.eu©2021

Weitere Werke von Alf Hoffmann

Duo con Variazione