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Paul Hoffert (Poli) was born in Brooklyn, New York and studied classical piano when he was a young boy, but he was drawn to the music of Fats Domino, Little Richard, and the doo-wop vocal groups that were popular then. His first band was the Boptones, which released two singles, I Wanna Love You and Betty Jean, when Paul was just 13 years old. All the band members had nicknames—nickibop, johnibop, stevibop and, his own new moniker, polibop.
He moved with his family to Toronto when he was 14 and, influenced by his older brother Marty’s love of jazz, took up the vibraphone (vibes). Within a year, his musical muse had become Milt “Bags” Jackson, the vibist with the Modern Jazz Quartet, and he was performing regularly at coffee houses and on network television. The popularity of the Paul Hoffert Jazz Quartet led to a record deal for his first album, "The Jazz Routes of Paul Hoffert", which was released when he was 16.
Hoffert studied music composition, arranging, and orchestration with Gordon Delamont for six years and, by the time he was 22, he had composed several feature film music scores and written an Off-Broadway musical, "Get Thee To Canterbury". He played regularly with jazz greats Moe Koffman, Ed Bickert, Guido Basso, and Rob McConnell. He worked with and performed the music of 20th century composers such as Harry Freedman, Harry Somers, Gunther Schuller, R. Murray Shafer, and Louis Applebaum. He was a percussionist with the Toronto Symphony for recordings of 20th century music.
In 1969, when he was 26, he co-founded Lighthouse with Skip Prokop. He toured with the band playing keyboards, vibes, and congas. He conducted the orchestras for Ligthouse’s collaborations with symphonies, and composed, with Skip Prokop, the music for Lighthouse’s Ballet High tour with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and for the "Noah" tour with the Desrosiers Dance Theatre.
Hoffert stopped touring with Lighthouse in 1973 and turned to record producing. He founded Rock and Roll Records and produced artists such as Bob McBride, Bill King, Flower Traveling Band, Snakeyes, Robbie Rox, and Flying Circus as well as executive producing Lighthouse recordings. During that period, he was a founder of CIRPA, the Canadian Independent Record Production Association.
In 1975, he became music director, arranger, and pianist for Craig Russell, internationally acclaimed impersonator and star of the feature film “Outrageous”. After composing the music score and signature songs with Brenda Hoffert he conducted Craig Russel’s jazz orchestra in performances around the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Berlin's Theatre Festival, Sydney's Opera House, and Toronto's Massey Hall.
Hoffert returned to Lighthouse in 1982, for its Ontario Place reunion, and since then has remained a performer with the band. He has composed and conducted original music for more than thirty feature films, hundreds of television programs, and for orchestral music including his Concerto for Contemporary Violin, which won a Juno Award. He is the recipient of a San Francisco Film Festival Award, Genie Award (best film score) as well as Gemini, Clio, and four SOCAN Film/ TV Composer awards. He has conducted Symphony Orchestras in Canada, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the United States, including a Sony recording featuring Placido Domingo. In 2009, he conducted the children's opera "Brundibar" at Koerner Hall in Toronto.
Hoffert has always been interested in technology and directed the CulTech Research Centre at York University from 1990-2000. In 2001 he received the Pixel award as the New Media industry’s “Visionary”.
On the academic front, Hoffert was music director of the Blue Mountain School of Music 1975-77 at George Brown College. He was appointed adjunct Professor of Fine Arts at York University in 1984 and Research Professor at Sheridan College in 1999. In 2005 he was appointed Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Law School and in 2007 was appointed a director of McGill University's Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology. He has also taught at Beijing University and the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi.
Hoffert was a founder and Chair of the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television and executive producer of the Gemini Awards in 1985 and 1986. He was Chair of the Ontario Arts Council 1994-97 and is currently Chair of the Guild of Canadian Film and Television Composers and Chair of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund.
Hoffert has served on many other boards including the Canadian Performing Rights Society (1984-90); SOCAN Foundation (1993-2009); Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (1998-2003); Virtual Museum of Canada (2000-2005); Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund (1999-); the Glenn Gould Foundation (2000-), and the United Nations World Summit on Information Societies.
Hoffert spent much of 2006-8 in China, working with Harvard University and the Chinese government to monetize music file sharing in that country. During that time, he toured China as a performer with world music diva Dadawa (Zhu Zheqing).
He is the author of five books, including The Hoffert Guide for Synchronizing Music with Media and Composing Music for Videogames, Web, and Mobile. In 2005 Poli received the Order of Canada for his contributions to music and media.
He moved with his family to Toronto when he was 14 and, influenced by his older brother Marty’s love of jazz, took up the vibraphone (vibes). Within a year, his musical muse had become Milt “Bags” Jackson, the vibist with the Modern Jazz Quartet, and he was performing regularly at coffee houses and on network television. The popularity of the Paul Hoffert Jazz Quartet led to a record deal for his first album, "The Jazz Routes of Paul Hoffert", which was released when he was 16.
Hoffert studied music composition, arranging, and orchestration with Gordon Delamont for six years and, by the time he was 22, he had composed several feature film music scores and written an Off-Broadway musical, "Get Thee To Canterbury". He played regularly with jazz greats Moe Koffman, Ed Bickert, Guido Basso, and Rob McConnell. He worked with and performed the music of 20th century composers such as Harry Freedman, Harry Somers, Gunther Schuller, R. Murray Shafer, and Louis Applebaum. He was a percussionist with the Toronto Symphony for recordings of 20th century music.
In 1969, when he was 26, he co-founded Lighthouse with Skip Prokop. He toured with the band playing keyboards, vibes, and congas. He conducted the orchestras for Ligthouse’s collaborations with symphonies, and composed, with Skip Prokop, the music for Lighthouse’s Ballet High tour with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and for the "Noah" tour with the Desrosiers Dance Theatre.
Hoffert stopped touring with Lighthouse in 1973 and turned to record producing. He founded Rock and Roll Records and produced artists such as Bob McBride, Bill King, Flower Traveling Band, Snakeyes, Robbie Rox, and Flying Circus as well as executive producing Lighthouse recordings. During that period, he was a founder of CIRPA, the Canadian Independent Record Production Association.
In 1975, he became music director, arranger, and pianist for Craig Russell, internationally acclaimed impersonator and star of the feature film “Outrageous”. After composing the music score and signature songs with Brenda Hoffert he conducted Craig Russel’s jazz orchestra in performances around the world, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Berlin's Theatre Festival, Sydney's Opera House, and Toronto's Massey Hall.
Hoffert returned to Lighthouse in 1982, for its Ontario Place reunion, and since then has remained a performer with the band. He has composed and conducted original music for more than thirty feature films, hundreds of television programs, and for orchestral music including his Concerto for Contemporary Violin, which won a Juno Award. He is the recipient of a San Francisco Film Festival Award, Genie Award (best film score) as well as Gemini, Clio, and four SOCAN Film/ TV Composer awards. He has conducted Symphony Orchestras in Canada, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the United States, including a Sony recording featuring Placido Domingo. In 2009, he conducted the children's opera "Brundibar" at Koerner Hall in Toronto.
Hoffert has always been interested in technology and directed the CulTech Research Centre at York University from 1990-2000. In 2001 he received the Pixel award as the New Media industry’s “Visionary”.
On the academic front, Hoffert was music director of the Blue Mountain School of Music 1975-77 at George Brown College. He was appointed adjunct Professor of Fine Arts at York University in 1984 and Research Professor at Sheridan College in 1999. In 2005 he was appointed Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Law School and in 2007 was appointed a director of McGill University's Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology. He has also taught at Beijing University and the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi.
Hoffert was a founder and Chair of the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television and executive producer of the Gemini Awards in 1985 and 1986. He was Chair of the Ontario Arts Council 1994-97 and is currently Chair of the Guild of Canadian Film and Television Composers and Chair of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund.
Hoffert has served on many other boards including the Canadian Performing Rights Society (1984-90); SOCAN Foundation (1993-2009); Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (1998-2003); Virtual Museum of Canada (2000-2005); Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund (1999-); the Glenn Gould Foundation (2000-), and the United Nations World Summit on Information Societies.
Hoffert spent much of 2006-8 in China, working with Harvard University and the Chinese government to monetize music file sharing in that country. During that time, he toured China as a performer with world music diva Dadawa (Zhu Zheqing).
He is the author of five books, including The Hoffert Guide for Synchronizing Music with Media and Composing Music for Videogames, Web, and Mobile. In 2005 Poli received the Order of Canada for his contributions to music and media.
