Real name: Bengt Hoffner

Effective period / Period of releases: 1974

Bengt Edqvist, Swedish guitarist, changed name to Bengt Hoffner in 1991.

He was born in Hallsberg in 1946. His childhood was spent in Kumla and Hällabrottet where his grandmother taught him guitar. In 1959 his mother remarried and he was adopted with the surname Edqvist. He moved to Surahammar and this is where his real musical interest began, thanks to the music teacher and conductor Nils-Erik Fjellström and his guitar teacher Lilly Larsson. In 1965 he entered the Ingesund Academy of Music outside Arvika. The following year, he started at the School of Music in Malmö, where he received a solid education in classical guitar playing by Per-Olov Johnson. In 1968 he took his guitar pedagogical degree.
From 1970 to 1995 he taught as a guitar teacher at Västerås Music School. Throughout the 70's he toured a lot with his colleague Börje Sandquist under the moniker "Bengt & Börje". During this period they made many TV and radio performances and also the music for the movie 'I am Maria'. They also released three LPs.
During the 70's and 80's, he also played lute in Westra Aros Pijpare. A group specializing in old music. Many summers at Vadstena Academy and also the Norrlands Opera.
He also began to compose Swedish poets at the same time. Ferlin, Fröding, Karlfeldt, Ekelöf, et al. In 1991 he changed his last name to his biological father's last name Hoffner.
Many of his compositions were performed in Opus Incertum, an ensemble consisting of Bengt, Bertil Färnlöf (arranger, keyboard, oboe), Anders Larsson (clarinet, saxophone), Clas-Göran Dahlberg (vocals, accordion) and Bengt Eriksson (bass).
Throughout the 1990s, he freelanced with his own programs in churches, libraries, folk high schools, etc.
In 1997, he received a solid in-depth training for stage artists at HageGården in Brunskog. Master Class with Håkan Hagegård.
The instruments he uses are either a 6-string Bolin guitar or an 8-string Gummeson guitar.

scholarships
Scholarship from Västmanland County Council (1974 and 1999)
Scholarship from the Municipality of Västerås (1976, 1987 and 2002)
Scholarship from STIM (1977, 1985 and 1997)
Artist contribution from the Artists' Committee (1975, 1978, 1988, 1989 and 1996)

Phonogram productions (LP and CD)
"Diger Janke". Bengt & Börje. First LP. 1973. Polydor. 2379 078 STEREO.
"Children of glassblowers" B&B. Second LP. 1976. Polydor. 2379 101 STEREO.
"Beethoven & Jon". B & B. Third LP. 1979. Intersound AB. ISOLP 114. Music for the movie "I'm Maria" by Karsten Wedel.
"... dreams of living". Poems by Gunnar Ekelöf composed and performed by Bengt Hoffner. 1998. MusiCant. Disc No: MUCD 3839.
"Water lily and bell sound". Music by WW Glaser. Västerås city. In 2003.