Chellan Hoffman

Chellan Hoffman was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, in 1967 and grew up on a farm near Ebenezer. She began lessons on electronic organ at age four and by age ten was playing services in her church. She was introduced to the pipe organ at 21, while completing a Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Her first pipe organ teacher was Hart Godden. She went on to earn her CRCCO diploma and sang and played as a chorister and organist at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral, Saskatoon.

In 1992 she moved to Calgary and became assistant organist at Christ Church Anglican. In 1996 she completed a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance with distinction, studying with Margaret Newman. She played daily services at English cathedrals, including St. Paul’s, London, and Salisbury, on two choir tours. In 2008 she became assistant music director at Grace Presbyterian Church. In 2011 she earned a Master of Music degree in organ performance, studying with Dr. Neil Cockburn.

In 2013 she was appointed music director of Knox United Church in downtown Calgary, where she directed the Knox Choir and the Knox Random Ringers handbell choir. She took the choir to a massed-choir concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2016 and to the Unisong Choral Festival in Ottawa in 2017. She is now Associate Director of Music at Knox. Her anthem Our Trust is in the Lord, for SATB choir and organ, was published by the RCCO in 2015.

She teaches organ at Mount Royal Conservatory and has been a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary. She works with choral and instrumental ensembles in western Canada, and has been a tuning and technician assistant to organ technician Steve Miller since 1989. She introduces the organ to the public through organ crawls, demonstrations and education programs. She chaired RCCO Calgary Centre from 2008 to 2014, later served as Calgary Centre President and as national Vice President, and chaired the editorial committee for Organ Canada. She takes part each year in the Calgary Organ Festival as performer, organizer, teacher and symposium presenter.

In her other life, she rides a motorbike, and is the mother of two boys who love hockey!