Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor. He was chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony.
Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London. He received his higher education at Harvard and Peabody Conservatory. Between Harvard and Peabody, he spent a year in Paris where he studied composition with Olivier Messiaen and conducting with Charles Bruck. [1] At Peabody, he studied piano with Leon Fleisher.
Wolff began his career in 1979 as assistant conductor to Mstislav Rostropovich at the National Symphony Orchestra, in Washington, D.C. [2] In June 1985, he was the first winner of the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award. [3] He was music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic from 1981 to 1986. Wolff then served as music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1993. [4] From 1988 until 1992, Wolff was principal conductor of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and then served as its music director from 1992 to 2000. He was principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival from 1994 until 1997. In 1998, Wolff led the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra on their world tour. [5] [6]
In Europe, Wolff was chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony from 1997 to 2006. In September 2017, he became chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra. He is scheduled to stand down as chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra at the end of the 2021–2022 season, and subsequently to take the title of dirigent emeritus (conductor emeritus) for two seasons. [7]
Wolff has recorded extensively for Teldec, Sony and others, has been nominated three times for a Grammy and has twice won the Cannes Classical Award. His discography includes the complete Beethoven symphonies with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. As a conductor he has accompanied recordings by Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson, Jennifer Larmore, and jazz guitarist John Scofield. Wolff is director of orchestras and teaches orchestral conducting at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Wolff lives in Boston with his wife, the harpist and author Judith Kogan. They have three sons. [8]
Guido Cantelli was an Italian orchestral conductor. Toscanini elected him his "spiritual heir" since the beginnings of his career. He was named Musical Director of La Scala, Milan in November 1956, but his promising career was cut short only one week later by his death at the age of 36 in the 1956 Paris DC-6 crash in France en route to the United States.
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After conducting the Vienna New Year's Concert in 2002, he was director of the Vienna State Opera until 2010. In Japan, he founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1984, their festival in 1992, and the Tokyo Opera Nomori in 2005.
Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer and pedagogue.
Leonidas Kavakos is a Greek violinist and conductor. He has won several international violin competition prizes, including the Sibelius, Paganini, Naumburg, and Indianapolis competitions. He is an Onassis Foundation scholar. He has also recorded for record labels such as Sony/BMG and BIS. As a conductor, he was an artistic director of the Camerata Salzburg and has been a guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Jaime Laredo is a violinist and conductor. He was the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and he began his musical career when he was five years old.
Andrey Boreyko is a Polish-Russian conductor.
Milan Horvat was a Croatian conductor.
Harold Farberman was an American conductor, composer and percussionist.
Randall Craig Fleischer was an American conductor. He was the Music Director of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Anchorage Symphony, and Youngstown Symphony orchestras.
Gianluca Cascioli is an Italian pianist, conductor, and composer.
David Grandis is currently the Director of Orchestras at the College of William and Mary, Music Director of the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, and Music Director of the Williamsburg Youth Orchestra. He studied in several national conservatories in France and began his conducting apprenticeship with Klaus Weise. After receiving a B.M. in Musicology in France, he completed a M.M. in orchestral conducting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Donald Schleicher, a G.P.D. at the Peabody Conservatory with Gustav Meier and a D.M.A. in conducting under James Smith at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has participated in several master classes with Marin Alsop, Rossen Milanov, John Farrer, Daniel Lewis (conductor), Donald Thulean, Philip Greenberg and Adrian Gnam. He also attended several conducting workshops as a participant in Russia with Misha Kats and in Bulgaria with Gustav Meier.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada is a Colombian violinist and conductor, with dual nationality in Colombia and Austria. He was the music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony.
The Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, also known as CSO, is a combined symphony orchestra and opera company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the time of the merger in 1985, it was the only such combined organization in the United States.
Murry Sidlin, is an American conductor and professor.
Pavel Sorokin is a Russian conductor born into a strong family tradition of singers and dancers. His mother was a singer, Tamara Sorokina and his father, Shamil Yagudin, a dancer. In 1985, he entered the Moscow Conservatory studying piano under Lev Naumov and conducting in the class of Yury Simonov where he graduated with distinction in both. In 1998, he received the honorary title of Meritorious Artist from the Russian Federation for exceptional achievements in the arts.
Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.
Nikos Athineos is a Greek conductor, composer and pianist with a long career as conductor in significant theaters and orchestras of Germany, first Artistic Director of Thessaloniki Concert Hall for ten years, director of Athens Conservatory.
Kristo Kondakçi is an Albanian-American conductor, recognized for his influential roles in the music community and his commitment to social impact through music. He currently serves as the David and Janet McCue music director of the Kendall Square Orchestra, where he actively collaborates with professionals from the science and technology sectors. This role allows him to merge musical performance with industry innovation, fostering an interdisciplinary approach that enhances both the arts and the scientific community.
Joshua Weilerstein is an American conductor and violinist.