Coffman began the string program at Ascension School in Oak Park. Now in its 12th year, more than 50 students study a string instrument and play in one of the school’s three orchestras under her direction. At CUC Coffman teaches violin and viola.
She is currently a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta and also performed with the Louisville Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. For several years she was a violinist with the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Lockerbie String Quartet, which was in-residence at Butler University. She holds degrees in violin performance from DePauw University and Indiana University, where her teachers included Herman Berg, Henryk Kowalski and Tadeusz Wronski. Later, Coffman returned to Indiana University for further study in viola with Abraham Skernick and Csaba Erdelyi.