News from Hope Hoffman
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Events Saturday, March 24 fiddle music from 10 a.m. - noon by Hope Hoffman, at Goranson Farm's Maple Weekend. Located at 250 River Road (Rte. 128), Dresden, Maine. Info at (207) 737-8834. * Link to Booking Form for Weddings & Community Events Music * Program Offerings [link to online form for planning events for your school, family gathering or community venue]
Family-friendly informal concerts to raise funds for farm organizations, featuring traditional and original Maine fiddle music by Hope Hoffman. Food and young children welcome. Farm-fresh snacks provided. "Knit-or-Not with Live Music:" Sit and knit or just drink tea and visit. Enjoy live fiddle music by Hope Hoffman and her students & bandmates. Very informal, food and children welcome, tea cups and tea provided. "Mini-Lessons & Fiddle/Violin Q&A:" Drop-in with fiddle/violin-related questions for fiddle instructor Hope Hoffman. Bring an instrument if you'd like to stop by for a free 5-minute mini-lesson for fiddle/violin. ~ * ~ Fiddle / Violin Lessons *[print a brochure about Hope's violin/fiddle teaching]* To make an appointment for a lesson, you can e-mail via www.hopehoffman.org. Hope Hoffman has been teaching fiddle music in Maine since 2001, and has training in both classical and folk style techniques. Hope's teaching includes introductory instruction, intermediate ear training and skills, including and coaching in improvisation, bowing technique, and phrasing. Link here for more about Hope's teaching style and experience. Hope offers private lessons for: Children ages 3 1/2 -5 with parents Ages 5 and up Adult students at all levels including beginners She also teaches small group classes (2-3 students, with scheduling organized by the group of students). Lessons can be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. For rates and scheduling, please e-mail
Hope. ~ * ~ Planning Ahead & KEEPING IN TOUCH * * Link to Booking Form for Event Planners * We're accepting bookings for festivals, parties and weddings up to a year in advance. Hope Hoffman is also available for public performances, dance music and house concerts, and a program called the Kids' Dance Party (a 45-minute session of informal creative movement games and folk dances, all with live fiddle/guitar music). You can print or e-mail a small flyer to keep handy and give to friends. And, print or e-mail flyers for music lessons and posters for events. If you know someone who’d like to be added to the mailing list, sent out only 4 times each year, they can sign up here. Contributions of a brief quote/reference about Hope's work, or photos/video of an event you’ve attended, are gratefully welcomed! They can be sent via e-mail or to P.O. Box 171, Bowdoinham, ME 04008. ~ * ~ Read Reviews Live CD of New England fiddle compositions Concert of country duet with Jim Tolles Solo fiddle & ballad singing in Glasgow Parent-child creative folk dance with live music Recording project with The Mutineers ~ * ~ SAMPLING OF RECENT PROJECTS & PERFORMANCES: [Link to résumé of past performances] Video of Hope playing at the Colby College contra dance "Tidbits Fiddle n' Farm" series of affordable, family-friendly, acoustic lunchtime concerts with free samples of local food. Solo fiddle and Parent-Child Creative Folk Dance at Rising Tide Community Market's grand opening Solo concert of original New Maine Fiddle Music, storytelling and traditional tunes, at Punkinfiddle festival ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
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* Purchase Recordings LIVE / ORIGINALS / FIELD RECORDINGS * Hope's CDs of live, original Maine fiddle music are for sale at concerts, by mail-order, online, including single-track downloads, & at Maine retailers including: Center for Maine
Craft in Gardiner
~ * ~ 2012 Projects Dear students, fans and colleagues, Here is an update about fiddle teaching and performing for the upcoming year: 2012 will focus on writing, composing, recording and publishing, as both an opportunity to finish some great projects and to address some health concerns, in preparation for more future activity and adventures. I've been affected by chemicals such as petroleum ink, perfumes and formaldehyde since childhood, and since 1990 my health has been significantly compromised by chemical sensitivities such as reactions to synthetic fragrances, and environmental allergens such as mold. In the past few years a balance of time between an allergen-free home and teaching and performing in various environments has not been enough relief from the chemicals, which trigger flu-like symptoms and have affected my long-term immune and organ health. 2010-2011 has been challenging, as my energy levels and respiratory system have had difficulty. I've always been very active, and it has been hard to think of myself as a person who needs to adapt for a medical condition, but the facts are the facts and they have presented themselves recently! The primary treatment for chemical sensitivity/environmental illness is avoidance of the chemicals/allergens, to decrease the overall "load" of allergens and toxins, giving the body a chance to regain its healthy functions. To give my system a chance to recuperate and heal in 2012, I plan to perform and teach in venues which do not adversely affect my health. Fiddle lessons will be held at my home and in a few other studio spaces, and performances in dance halls, wedding venues, retirement homes, schools and festivals will be booked as usual but with more careful attention to the environment each venue offers. Some part-time work on the computer at home doing editing and design may be a way of supplementing income during this year. I am also looking forward to moving forward with several projects, including publishing a fiddle teaching curriculum, transcribing and recording dozens of compositions, and a editing a farm foods cookbook. * To help get the "big picture" on environmental illness, here are some links: Maine Government Overview of Environmental Illness: An easy-to-read listing of common questions and general information. An Overview of MCS: History and general medical explanation of chemical sensitivity/environmental illnesses. Workplace Health: A brief, practical summary of environmental illness and ways to support health in the workplace. Chemical Sensitivity: Gives a "big picture" of environmental illnesses and offers some additional scientific ideas. These offer some interesting scientific insights and practical ideas, and you might have friends and family who are also chemically sensitive. * Thank you for all the positive and encouraging responses, which have helped along this process of growth in health, career, and art. I look forward to planning events and lessons with you, as well as pursuing some writing projects. Let me know what ideas and questions you have. Best, ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Parent-Child Creative Folk Dance WITH LIVE MUSIC * Dance with your child to live music, learning simple steps and enjoying plenty of imagination for structured creative movement, singing games, and free dance for parent-child pairs. All with live, traditional fiddle music ~ lyrical waltzes to upbeat jigs. The basic length of this program is 45 minutes; the addition of Hope's brief lecture-demo about fiddle music can extend the program to 60 minutes. If your venue has more than one group of participants, the program can be arranged as two or three consecutive sessions of 30 minutes each. Link to details at www.hopehoffman.org/workshops.htm Hope Hoffman has been a freelance dance teacher since 1999 and a full-time performer including fiddle music since 2001. Her sessions of music and dance for children have been presented at the Children's Museum of Maine in Portland, Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor, and the Long Island Children's Museum in New York. Hope's résumé is at www.hopehoffman.org. "It isn't just any musician/dance leader who can keep a bunch of kids singing, dancing and having fun for 45 minutes. The very talented Hope Hoffman did just that. "She is focused, enthusiastic, flexible and responsive.
She was also warm and inviting, and kept the group on track with gentleness
and skill. All of us had a great time." ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Original Compositions ONLINE SHEET MUSIC / CHORDS / VIDEO / PRINT A TUNEBOOK * www.hopehoffman.org/kittlishtunebook.htm
* * To join Tune-of-the-Month
(a monthly e-newsletter which
sends
you sheet music, video, chords and audio files for Hope's compositions),
you can sign
up here. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Free
Grange * Enjoy fiddle music, food and community dances with Free Grange (www.freegrange.org), a project designed to support the success and popularity of fresh, neighborly food sources through music. Free Grange Productions offers flexible & professional music events, related merchandise & promotional partnerships to farms, restaurants, non-profits, towns & food-related businesses.
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E-mail ~ PO Box 171, Bowdoinham, ME 04008 ~ www.hopehoffman.org
Building Community through Music, Theater and Dance.
* Link to Online Booking Form for Event Planners *
