Born in Philadelphia, PA, Ken Hoffman was raised with one brother and two sisters. His parents moved out of the city when Ken was in second grade, heading to the suburbs. His father was an accountant for Univac and his mom stayed home full-time. He says his dad was an Arthur Murray dance instructor and a real jokester while his mom was a Holocaust survivor and was in ballet as a dancer for many years. Ken was a Cub and Boy Scout and played Little League. Music started for him in the third grade. Initially he wanted to play the trumpet, but switched to the french horn in middle school. He then added tuba and trombone. He did quite well and was a part of several honor bands. Ken loved music and felt playing instruments came easy for him. He joined the choir in middle school and began also playing bass to accompany them. In high school he was in several musicals and was Technical Director his senior year for a play. In the midst of all this activity, Ken's father died of a heart attack when he was just 16 years old. It was then his mother began working at the school in the cafeteria. After high school graduation, Ken headed to Univ. of Rochester as a Chemistry major. Simultaneously, he was accepted into the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. He was able to study privately with Milan Yancich on french horn. It turns out he was not a strong math student and failed calculus. He lost his scholarship and had to head home at the end of his sophomore year. During college he had gotten his EMT certification and now used it to be a volunteer paramedic. For income, he worked security at a nuclear power plant. Later, he moved to CA and became employed as a paramedic. This is where he met his wife Elizabeth, an ER nurse. They moved to San Francisco and had three daughters. In 1990 he finished his Bachelor's degree with a Music major at Sonoma State Univ. He began teaching 4-8th graders. In 1998, they moved to Ventura, CA where he taught high school band, choir and orchestra. This was followed by four years in El Camino, CA then Chaminade, CA for six years. With 26 years of experience, Ken moved his family to Oregon and is now a Strings teacher at Corbett Schools for grades 3-12. His desire is to eventually have a full orchestra. Currently he and his wife and youngest two daughters are living in Hillsboro with two dogs and a cat. They are looking to purchase a home closer to Corbett. Ken says he is excited to be in the Pacific Northwest and cannot wait for all that lies ahead with his position at the Corbett Schools.
