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 13 years old. All the band members had nicknames—nickibop, johnibop, stevibop and, his own new moniker, polibop.
At 16, Paul was already an accomplished musician, performing regularly on network television, and had recorded his first jazz album, The Jazz Routes of Paul Hoffert. At 22, he had composed several feature film scores and an Off-Broadway musical, Get Thee to Canterbury. While he was in New York he met Skip Prokop and together they founded Lighthouse.
Aside from Lighthouse, Paul has composed music for more than thirty feature films and hundreds of television programs. His orchestral music includes “Concerto for Contemporary Violin” that has been performed around the world and won a Juno Award. He has won awards at the San Francisco Film Festival, Genie, Gemini, Clio, and 4 SOCAN Film/TV Composer awards. He has conducted Symphony Orchestras in Canada, Europe and the United States, including a Sony recording featuring Placido Domingo.
In recent years, Paul has returned to his jazz roots. His most recent CD with the Gelcer-Hoffert Trio, Jim and Paul Play Glenn and Ludwig, is a jazz riff on Glenn Gould's favourite Beethoven pieces and quickly rose to number one on the jazz charts.
Paul is former President of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and Chair of the Ontario Arts Council. In 2005 he received the Order of Canada for his contributions to music and media. Paul, along with Lighthouse, was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2023 and then was inducted with Skip Prokop, Ralph Cole and Bob McBride into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2024.
I Wanna Love You and Betty Jean, when Paul was 13 years old. All the band members had nicknames—nickibop, johnibop, stevibop and, his own new moniker, polibop.
At 16, Paul was already an accomplished musician, performing regularly on network television, and had recorded his first jazz album, The Jazz Routes of Paul Hoffert. At 22, he had composed several feature film scores and an Off-Broadway musical, Get Thee to Canterbury. While he was in New York he met Skip Prokop and together they founded Lighthouse.
Aside from Lighthouse, Paul has composed music for more than thirty feature films and hundreds of television programs. His orchestral music includes “Concerto for Contemporary Violin” that has been performed around the world and won a Juno Award. He has won awards at the San Francisco Film Festival, Genie, Gemini, Clio, and 4 SOCAN Film/TV Composer awards. He has conducted Symphony Orchestras in Canada, Europe and the United States, including a Sony recording featuring Placido Domingo.
In recent years, Paul has returned to his jazz roots. His most recent CD with the Gelcer-Hoffert Trio, Jim and Paul Play Glenn and Ludwig, is a jazz riff on Glenn Gould's favourite Beethoven pieces and quickly rose to number one on the jazz charts.
Paul is former President of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and Chair of the Ontario Arts Council. In 2005 he received the Order of Canada for his contributions to music and media. Paul, along with Lighthouse, was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2023 and then was inducted with Skip Prokop, Ralph Cole and Bob McBride into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2024.