UCD Lecturer Matilda Hofman Leads Diablo Symphony

Matilda Hofman, a UC Davis lecturer and native of Oxford, England, has been named the artistic director-conductor just in time for the Diablo Symphony's 50th anniversary season.

After a year-long screening process, symphony musicians selected Matilda Hofman, 33, a lecturer in the UC Davis music department. Her work as a conductor ranges from opera and symphonic repertoire to contemporary music.

The following comes from a Diablo Symphony news release:

 The Diablo Symphony is the oldest orchestra of professionally trained musicians in Contra Costa County.
 
Hofman will lead the Diablo Symphony beginning in October when it kicks off its 2012-13  five-concert 50th anniversary season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.
 
Hofman was chosen from among four other finalists under consideration to replace Joyce Johnson Hamilton, who retired last year after serving as the Diablo Symphony’s artistic director and conductor for 30 years. Hofman becomes the sixth conductor of the Diablo Symphony since its founding in 1962.
 
In addition to symphony orchestras, Hofman has conducted operas throughout Europe and was assistant conductor at Sacramento Opera. She is a regular guest conductor of the Empyrean Ensemble at UC Davis and the Bay Area’s Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.

In 2003 Hofman formed the Bay Area-based Keisler Ensemble, a group seven musicians. She is the conductor and artistic director.

A native of Oxford, England, Hofman studied at Cambridge University, the Royal Academy of Music and the Eastman School of Music.
 
She is married to Christian Baldini, an internationally recognized composer and conductor who leads the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra.  The couple has two sons under the age of 4.

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