Born in Rochester, New York, in 1951, Hoffman received a B.Mus. in Composition (1973) from the University of Michigan, studying with William Albright, George Cacioppo, and Leslie Bassett. In 1975 he received a M.A. in musicology and ethnomusicology (1975), also at the University of Michigan, studying with Judith Becker and William P. Malm. His master’s thesis, Epistemology and Music in Java, won the Charles Seeger Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology (1974). In 2004, he received a M.M. in Composition from the New England Conservatory of Music under Michael Gandolfi.