BIOGRAPHY

Award-winning Boston flutist and educator Alison Hoffman (she/her) is a soloist,  private teacher, and mental health advocate based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Alison regularly performs solo recitals in the Boston area with recent concerts titled Flute Stories and Bite-Sized Pieces for Solo Flute, showcasing many new works for flute alone. Each December, Alison performs holiday concerts with Boston bass trombonist, Alek Mansouri. The duo arranges a variety of music for their unique instrument pairing and donates a portion of their earnings to local organizations. She has also performed a virtual recital for The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art's Second Saturday's series for Women's History month, including works by composers Katherine Hoover, Alice Jones, and Rhonda Larson.

In the spring of 2018, Alison performed Malcolm Arnold’s Flute Concerto No. 1 with the Newark Symphony Orchestra as the winner of a regional collegiate concerto competition. In 2017, Ms. Hoffman won the Murray Panitz Memorial Competition of the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia and performed Olivier Messiaen’s “Le Merle Noir” on a winner's recital at the FSGP Flute Fair. Ms. Hoffman has performed in flute and piccolo masterclasses with Elizabeth Rowe, Jeffrey Khaner, Amy Porter, Katherine Hoover, Sarah Jackson, and Lois Herbine.

Alison holds a national private flute studio for students of all ages and backgrounds. Although based in Boston, virtual students span across the country. Her teaching style is a holistic approach that encompasses effective practicing methods as well as a focus on mental health and healthy thinking patterns. Her flute studio, which includes school-age students and several adults, focuses on a growth mindset, process over immediate results, and fostering love and open-mindedness in the music community. The studio meets for studio classes and workshops where they learn new topics and benefit from each other’s shared and unique experiences.

As a graduate student, Alison co-directed the Stratosphere Flute Choir and mentored undergraduate students in her flute studio. She also served as a clinician at a local high school, leading flute sectionals for their bands, as well as teaching private lessons virtually and at a local music store.

In 2022, Alison published the Intermediate Flute Scale Book, a book of scales for flutists ranging from 6th to 12th grade as well as adult amateurs and woodwind doublers. The book carefully bridges the gap between simple scale sheets and advanced scale books that many students aren’t ready for. She also released a Flute Teacher Bundle and Music Teacher Bundle which contain helpful resources for other music teachers.

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In February 2023, she hosted a free Mindful Practice Workshop to teach mindful practice strategies to musicians and to support a culture of individuality and wellbeing within the musician community. She hosts a community coworking space for all musicians called the Mindful Practice Room, a place to practice, reflect, and be accountable.

An avid mental health advocate, Alison was featured as a guest writer on the Sound Mind Musician blog where she detailed her experiences as both a student and teacher in the classical music world and offers insight into what aspects of our culture need to change in order to create a healthier world for musicians and students. She frequently shares tips and suggestions on social media and her blog to change the narrative about musician mental health.

Alison graduated with her Master’s in Flute Performance from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, studying with New York City Opera principal flutist, Janet Arms. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Delaware where she studied Music Education with a concentration in flute, studying with Eileen Grycky of Opera Philadelphia and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.

In her spare time, Alison likes to take walks, read, go thrifting, make up-cycled crafts, and eat delicious Boston take-out.