Josef Hofmann, the pianist, teacher, composer and inventor, born on 20th January 1876 in Krakow. He came from the family of musicians. His father, Kazimierz Hofmann, was a famous composer, pianist and conductor, his mother, Matylda Pindelska and the father’s two sisters, Honorata Majeranowska and Josefa Hofmann-Rapacka were singers. When Josef was three years old he began to learn playing the piano. The boy’s outstanding gift, his father’s pedagogical care and also the artistic atmosphere in his family contributed to his continuous progress. When he was eight he appeared in Warsaw, where he played the Mozart’s Concert D-Minor conducted by his father. Two years later, he had his first European tournée. He was performing in Prague, Germany, Denmark (where his performance was admired by the King of Denmark), Sweden, Holland, France (in the presence of  C. Saint-Saensem ) and in England. In 1887 he went to the United States, where he made a great success performing in the Metropolitan Opera House. He was engaged for a few dozen concerts. Despite his great success he achieved and the admiration for his mature performances, after 10 weeks during which he gave 52 concerts, the tournée was cancelled at the request of New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. They decided that the tournée was too an excessive burden for the 11 years old boy and might be dangerous to his health. However, thanks to the publicity young Hofmann gained by playing, Alfred Coming Clark funded him a scholarship, under the condition, however, that the boy would not perform in public before his 18th birthday. The scholarship helped him to complete music studies in Berlin in 1888-1994. He was taught by such teachers as Maurycy  Moszkowski (piano), Heinrich Urban (composition), Eugen d’Albert and in 1892-94 by Antoni Rubinstein. In 1894 he received the first prize at the Antoni Rubinstein competition in Hamburg during which he performed his D-Minor Concert Op. 70. After this success, he began the real career as a pianist performing in many European countries (England, Scandinavian countries, Russia, Poland), where he enjoyed great popularity, especially in Petersburg (1913). Apart from performances in Europe he gave annual concerts in United States, which became his second homeland. In 1926, he received American citizenship.  In 1926-1938 he was the Principal of the music school Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. On 28th November 1937, on the 50th anniversary of his American debut the jubilee concert was held in Metropolitan Opera House. He finished his career as the pianist on 19th January 1946 when he gave his last recital in Carnegie Hall. He died in Los Angeles on 16th February 1957. He was married twice. Maria Eustis was his first wife and he had one daughter with her, the second wife was Betty Short and they had 3 sons.

Josef Hofmann claimed that if you want to interpret the musical composition properly, you have to study its notation carefully. His playing is phenomenally perfect. “He pays attention to play the right notes and plays everything that is written there” (P. Wierzbicki: Chopin. Musical portrait), which was unusual in comparison with superficial technique and bombastic style of other pianists. (A. Michalowski, Z. Sliwinski). He was gifted with the ability of playing in various musical techniques, with phenomenal memory and unique musical imagination. Thanks to these, his interpretations can be regarded as those of a genius, which was emphasized by his contemporary critics and proved by his recordings.

„I believe in musical education. This is a great, powerful force”- claimed Josef Hofmann.. Since 1924 he was the piano teacher at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 1926-1938 he was the Principal of this school. His student was among others Shura Cherkassky. The teaching staff included e.g. Efrem Zimbalist – the violinist, Fritz Reiner – the conductor, Marcelina Sembrich-Kochanska – the singer, Leopold Auer – the violinist. He wrote a number of articles concerning the piano performance which were published in the form of books: Piano Playing (1908) and Piano Questions Answered (1909).

Josef Hofmann composed already as a child. In 1886 his Romans was printed in note supplement to the periodical Musical, Theatrical and Artistic Echo (Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne). Later he composed mainly for his own career’s needs. His compositions were kept in the convention of stylistic music of 19th century. His drawing-room compositions were not as popular as similar compositions of Paderewski and Rachmaninov. This is probably why he began to publish next under the pseudonym of Michel Dvorsky. On  2nd January 1924 the concert consisting entirely of his works was held. These were: Piano Concerto No. 2, Chromaticon, symphonic poem The Haunted Castle and several solo works.

Josef Hofmann had an unusual, rare among the artists technical interest. He was gifted with an analytical mind and with a do-it-yourself passion. He patented over 70 inventions, e.g. windscreen wiper, suspension spring, paper clip.