HOFMANN, JOSEF CASIMIR (1876— ), pianist and composer, was born at Cracow, Poland, Jan. 20, 1876. At seven he attracted Rubinstein's attention, becoming his pupil. Touring Europe at nine, he went to the United States two years later, giving 52 concerts, but was compelled to stop by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He returned to Europe, studied further under Rubinstein, Urban and Moszkovski, and resumed public performances in 1894. When the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, was endowed in 1924, he was invited to head the piano department. He became the director in May 1927, not long after his naturalization as an American citizen. His compositions include a symphony, two concertos, five piano sonatas, an orches tral suite, Mignonettes, four Old Dutch Songs, Trois Impressions (M. Dvorsky) and Valse Caprice. He is the author of Piano Play ing (1898) and Piano Questions (1900) .