Magdalena Hoffmann

Creative energy is a driving force for German harpist Magdalena Hoffmann. The solo harpist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra captivates her audience as a chamber musician and with the rich recital repertoire of her instrument. In her diverse projects, which also include music education, she frequently works across artistic disciplines, connecting music with theater and visual arts or creating absurd sketches. Her virtuosity on the modern concert harp, as well as her knowledge of the instrument's long history, allow her to emerge as an exceptionally gifted communicator. "The harp is the instrument of poets and storytellers," she says. "It is a wonderful medium for adventures of the imagination." Exclusive interviews with Magdalena Hoffmann Watch on STAGE+ In March 2021, Magdalena Hoffmann signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Her debut album for the yellow label, Nightscapes, was released in February 2022, featuring music by Britten, Chopin, Pizzetti, and Respighi, among others, inspired by the night and the theme of dance – very fitting for an instrument that, in addition to dexterity, requires particularly complex footwork. The album was highly praised by critics ("Hoffmann's finesse is astounding... I am particularly impressed by the mix of lyrical songfulness and unstoppable forward momentum," wrote Gramophone) and earned the harpist an Opus Klassik award as Young Artist of the Year. Her second album, Fantasia, revolves around Baroque music and will be released in September 2024. Her selection of fantasies and preludes was originally written for keyboard instruments or lute by Johann Sebastian Bach, his sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, and his contemporaries Handel and Weiss. "The harp has a kind of home advantage due to its natural capabilities for free, ornamental arpeggiation, which is so typical for Baroque preludes and fantasies," says the artist. Throughout her extensive orchestral career, Magdalena Hoffmann has worked with many top international conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Harding, Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Mariss Jansons. With her innovatively curated programs, Magdalena Hoffmann often breaks traditional genre boundaries. Collaboration with other artists is an important source of inspiration for her. In 2014, she premiered her theater concert for children, Odyssey on 47 Strings, at the HarpMasters Festival in Switzerland. She has also premiered several harp works by contemporary composers. Her recent highlights include a concert with works by Jörg Widmann in Munich as part of the musica viva series of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; a recital with flutist Zofia Neugebauer in Lucerne; and a Wagner/Brahms program with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on a summer festival tour in Munich, Ingolstadt, and Bad Kissingen. At the Salzburg Festival, as a member of the Camerata Salzburg under Widmann's direction and with baritone Matthias Goerne, she will perform works by Mahler, Berg, and Widmann (August 21). Upcoming engagements for the coming season include a recital with flutist Karl-Heinz Schütz in Ischgl (September 25) and another with flutist Henrik Wiese in Seoul (November 19). Magdalena Hoffmann was born in Basel in 1990 and began playing the harp there at the age of six. From 2007, she studied with Fabiana Trani in Düsseldorf, where she received her Bachelor's degree from the Robert Schumann Hochschule six years later. In the interim, she spent a year at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied with Skaila Kanga and was introduced to jazz harp by Park Stickney. In Munich, she completed her education with a Master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater with Christina Bianchi. Masterclasses and private lessons with renowned harpists such as Fabrice Pierre, Isabelle Moretti, Alice Giles, Isabelle Perrin, Mara Galassi, and Milda Agazarian opened new artistic perspectives for Magdalena Hoffmann and gave her insight into various approaches to her instrument. In 2014, Hoffmann became solo harpist with the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck, and the following year she began teaching concert harp at the Tiroler Landeskonservatorium. Her international breakthrough came in 2016 when she won two special prizes at the prestigious ARD Music Competition in Munich. Two years later, she took up the position of solo harpist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Hoffmann is a cultural ambassador for CASA HOGAR, a charity project that provides accommodation and education to young girls in the conflict-ridden Colombian department of Chocó. "I hope to open the ears and hearts of many people to the suffering that still exists in Chocó – and to fight against it," explains the harpist. 7/2024