Background
Hoffmann was born on April 20, 1925 in Vienna, Austria; the son of Richard and Emanuela Hoffmann. He arrived in the United States in 1947.
Hoffmann was born on April 20, 1925 in Vienna, Austria; the son of Richard and Emanuela Hoffmann. He arrived in the United States in 1947.
Hoffmann received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of New Zealand in 1945. He studied at the University of California in Los Angeles from 1949 to 1951. Also he studied with Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles between 1947-1951.
Hoffmann began his career as a professor at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1954, where he worked until 2004. He was a visiting professor at the University of California in Berkeley from 1965 to 1966, at Victoria University in 1968, at Harvard University in 1970, at the University of Iowa in 1976 and at Vienna University in 1984.
On December 21, 1957 Richard Hoffmann married Joan Alfhild Flint. They have 3 children.