Longy’s Eric Hofbauer Invited by Charles Ives Society to Share Knowledge of Experimental Composer

Monday, July 22, 2024

Longy’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Department Chair Eric Hofbauer was recently invited to reflect on the life and impact of Charles Ives, one of his favorite musicians, by the Charles Ives Society. He shared his extensive knowledge of Ives’ discography on a panel of improvising musicians hosted by the Society and in a lecture on the connection between Charles Ives and jazz.

“It has all been an amazing experience and quite an honor,” Hofbauer said.

The panel, which also included musicians like Bill Frisell, Phil Lesh, and Jack Cooper, asked artists to consider the influence of Ives on the current practice of jazz, big band, blues, rock, film music, and pop, as well as the genres’ histories.

At the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, where thousands of objects from Charles Ives’ studio reside, Hofbauer presented his lecture on jazz theory, improvision, and the beloved composer. It was a timely discussion, as Eric demonstrated how “Ives’ vocabulary…is actually the most richly implemented into American composition.”

Hofbauer’s love of the composer’s music has “a deep Longy connection,” he stated. As office mates, he and Piano Department Chair Donald Berman swapped Charles Ives’ CDs back and forth.

While Charles Ives is now considered the father of experimental music, his path to global recognition was a circuitous one—he never made a living as a musician, and his works were ignored for many years. The Society, of which Berman is president and treasurer, ensures Ives’ works continue to be performed, recorded, and studied for their cultural impact.

“His time is now, more than any other time in the 20th century,” said Hofbauer.

Declared “a significant force in Boston’s improvised-music scene” by Stereophile, Eric Hofbauer has been an integral member of Boston’s jazz scene as a musician, bandleader, organizer, and educator for the past twenty-five years. He has performed and recorded alongside such notable collaborators as Han Bennink, Roy Campbell, Jr., John Tchicai, Garrison Fewell, Cecil McBee, George Garzone, Sean Jones, John Fedchock, Steve Swell, and Matt Wilson.

Hofbauer has earned critical acclaim for his work in a variety of musical projects, including recordings with Garrison Fewell’s Variable Density Orchestra, The Pablo Ablanedo Octet(o), Charlie Kohlhase’s Explorer’s Club, and The Blueprint Project with Han Bennink, among others.

Hofbauer received a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory. In addition to teaching at Longy, he has taught jazz history at Emerson College for 20 years. He has also been a visiting professor at Wellesley College, and a faculty member at Clark University and the University of Rhode Island.