MEET THE ORCHESTRA

Cellist Heidi Hoffman is originally from Bainbridge Island, WA and at the age of 17 soloed with the Seattle Symphony as winner of the Seattle Young Artists

Competition. She received her Bachelors of Music and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and a Masters of Music and Doctorate in Cello Performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, studying with Timothy Eddy. The summer of her sophomore year at Eastman, Heidi was awarded a Fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Festival where she performed under conductors Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein, among others.

Heidi became a member of the Syracuse Symphony cello section in 1996 and was recently appointed principal cellist of Symphoria. She has taught on the faculties of Wells College, Cornell University, and has taught at Ithaca College for the last 14 years. She was a full time member of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago from 1997-2004, and continues to play there in a part time capacity. She has been fortunate to play with many NYC chamber and orchestral groups, such as the American Symphony Orchestra, the Jupiter Symphony and the Tchaikovsky Chamber Orchestra, traveling to Japan, Germany, Russia, Paris, Guatemala, and Turkey.

When not playing or teaching the cello, Heidi can be found at If Only Farm Equestrian Center in Freeville, where she rides, trains and teaches dressage. Her horse, Manny, lives there too.

Heidi lives in Freeville with her husband Rick, who is a clarinet professor at Ithaca College, and dog Ziggy.