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Florian Hoefner

Born and raised in Germany, trained in New York City and now based in Canada, Juno Award-winning jazz pianist and composer, Florian Hoefner, draws from a myriad of influences that culminate in his unique brand of modern jazz. Praised as a “composer-bandleader of insightful resolve” by the New York Times and a “harmonically daring pianist … reaching toward new sonic territory” by Downbeat, Florian Hoefner continues to make waves as an inventive creator and performer of exciting contemporary jazz.

He has released 6 albums under his own name and many more as a sideman. “First Spring,” the debut album with his Canadian trio with Andrew Downing on bass and Nick Fraser on drums has received 2 East Coast Music Awards in 2020 and was nominated for a 2021 JUNO in the category “Jazz Album of the Year: Group.” The trio released its sophomore album, “Desert Bloom” on June 3rd 2022 on Alma Records. It was nominated for 2 East Coast Music Awards and won a Juno Award in 2023. As a touring artist he has played at venues and festivals on 5 different continents and has worked with artists including Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jerry Bergonzi, Norma Winstone, Joe LaBarbera and Seamus Blake. He is the winner of 2 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards and the Stingray Rising Star Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Hoefner’s compositions and arrangements have been performed in Europe and North America by artists including the Iris Trio, Till Brönner, Jasmin Tabatabai, the New York Jazz Orchestra, the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra, the German Youth Jazz Orchestra and the DanJam Orchestra. Florian currently serves as Assistant Professor for Jazz Studies at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL.

Awards

2024 ECMA Award for Instrumental Recording of the Year
2023 JUNO Award for Jazz Album of the Year, Group
2022 ECMA Awards for Instrumental Recording of the Year and Jazz Recording of the Year
2015 Stingray Rising Star Award, Montreal Jazz Festival
2011 Ascap Young Jazz Composer Award
2010 Ascap Young Jazz Composer Award

Iris Trio: Project Earth: The Blue Chapter

Read "Project Earth: The Blue Chapter" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
May 24, 2024

Project Earth: The Blue Chapter, is credited to the Iris Trio, a classical group that features Christine Carter, on clarinet, Zoe Martin-Doike on viola and Anna Petrova sitting in the piano chair. Poet Don McCay recites his poetry throughout. The project's theme is humanity's impact on the environment, expressed in three sections: “Bird Island Suite," “Chorus of Wishes" and “Kinds of Blue." It is an ambitious work, with more chapters in the planning stages. Though his name is not included ...

Multiple Reviews

3x3: Piano Trios: July 2022

by Geno Thackara
August 3, 2022

Florian Hoefner Trio Desert Bloom Alma Records 2022 If the title of First Spring appropriately represented the Florian Hoefner Trio's first emergence, Desert Bloom is the picture of a colorful summer to follow--warmer, more vibrant, and at the same time more settled. As on their debut, the trio shows off an impressively honed interplay and an eagerness to mix their jazzy leanings with some pretty different musical spheres. This time Hoefner takes his compositional cues ...

Album Review

Florian Hoefner Trio: First Spring

Read "First Spring" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 17, 2019

Many piano trios reach back to past masters for inspiration, playing in the style of Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson. Others craft their sounds under the influence of contemporary players: Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Ahmad Jamal. On the other hand, the occasional piano trio comes down the road rolling its own idiosyncratic way. Pianist Florian Hoefner is one of the latter group, with his immersion in “the ethos of traditional songs and the high lonesome ...

Album Review

Florian Hoefner: Luminosity

Read "Luminosity" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
March 15, 2016

Il quartetto di Florian Hoefner -origini tedesche, residenza da anni a New York -è con Luminosity alla terza uscita discografica e si sente. L'intesa fra i musicisti è perfetta -Seamus Blake è subentrato a Mike Ruby ma sembra membro del gruppo da sempre -la musica ha la precisione di un orologio svizzero, fluisce senza scossoni e senza impedimenti. Vi è inoltre una chirurgica successione di brani dall'andamento lento e riflessivo con altri dal ritmo più sostenuto, mentre gli assoli guadagnano ...

Album Review

Florian Hoefner: Luminosity

Read "Luminosity" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
February 8, 2016

A change in scenery can bring a new perspective as revealed in Florian Hoefner's Luminosity, his third release on Origin Records. Since moving to St Johns, Newfoundland in 2014 after spending years in New York City, the pianist and composer builds on previous works that highlighted a lyrical adeptness in the vein of contemporaries Aaron Parks and Fabian Almazan while exposing an identifiable voice. Fueled by bassist Sam Anning and drummer Peter Kronreif who have performed with ...

Album Review

Florian Hoefner: Songs Without Words

Read "Songs Without Words" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
May 16, 2012

A youthful quartet led by German pianist Florian Hoefner offers a modern jazz effort that is by no means a game-changer, yet boasts a diverse track mix. Now residing in New York, Hoefner is a two-time recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. Featuring his original compositions, the quartet on Songs Without Words displays verve while executing delicate sound mosaics, pumping Latin beats and fluidly crafted unison choruses. The pianist's intricately articulated phrasings on the pensive ballad ...

“A composer-bandleader of insightful resolve.” New York Times (USA)

“First Spring […] stands out in the piano trio field in 2019.” All About Jazz (USA)

“In every situation, the music is so substantial and at times even breath-taking.” Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

Halifax

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Florian serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Memorial University in St. John's, NL, Canada.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Contents of clinics can be negotiated. Florian has presented clinics at the University of Toronto, Acadia University, University of Ottawa, Concordia University, St. Francis Xavier University, the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, Austria, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, the Jazz School Krakow, Poland, the Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto, the North Toronto Collegiate Institute and The York School Toronto.