About

Learn more about Wolf:

Wolf’s Resume

Wolf Tormann is a professional cellist, cello teacher, conductor and adjudicator. As a professional cellist, Wolf has played with several orchestras and ensembles, and has also performed as a soloist.

Wolf teaches cello students of all ages at his Toronto studio, including children and adult students. He works with students individually to help them reach their goals, whether they are study for a performance or teaching career, or simply want to experience the joy of playing a musical instrument.

Along with founding the Isabel String Quartet, Wolf conducted the Queen’s University Orchestra for six years, and also founded and conducted the Queen’s/Community cello orchestra for over 20 years. He is also an experienced adjudicator for music festivals across Canada.

Early Life and Education:

Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1964, Wolf Tormann completed studies at the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt with Professor Gerhard Mantel. He continued advanced studies with two of the worlds most famous cellists and cello teachers, Arto Noras, Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, and Janos Starker, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Wolf has been a member of various orchestras, including the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Opera Orchestra Halle, Stuttgart Philharmonic and from 1992-1994, the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, where he was assistant principal cellist.

While in Lisbon, he performed more than 100 solo, chamber music and orchestral concerts a season, appeared as guest soloist with the Metropolitan Orchestra and was Professor of Cello at the National Academy for Orchestral Education.  He was also a founding member of the Tagide String Quartet.

Canadian roles and performances:

Wolf moved to Canada in 1994. He has been the principal cellist of the Kingston Symphony Orchestra since 1996 and was on the substitution list in the cello section of the National Arts Centre Orchestra for over a decade, performing more than 1000 concerts with them. He also toured with the National Arts Centre Orchestra on several occasions, including tours all over Canada, as well as Great Britain and China.

For nine years , Wolf was Music Director of a series of Chamber Music Soirees in Kingston, performing more than 25 concerts in and around the area, with both local and outside musicians.  He was responsible for organizing, programming and hiring musicians for the concerts.

Wolf was a member of Queen’s University faculty in the Dan School of Drama and Music for 24 years. His responsibilities included teaching, chamber music coaching and conducting the Queen’s Orchestra, which he led for six years.  Recent orchestra performances included:

• 2018 Bach Orchestral Suite in B-minor, Bizet Carmen Suite No.1, Schubert Unfinished Symphony
• 2019 Faure Requiem, Sejourne concerto for marimba, Burge Canadian Shield
• 2021 Finzi Romance for String Orchestra, Mozart Symphony No.31 (Paris),
  Beethoven Leonore Overture No.3
• 2022 World Premiere of “Tangorium” arranged by Charles Cozens, featuring Bridge&Wolak
• 2022 Grieg Holberg Suite, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, Bruckner Symphony No.1
• 2023 Lauridsen Lux Aeterna, Suite from Video Games Live, John Williams Star Wars Suite
• 2023 Tangorium in the Brockville Arts Centre for the 75th anniversary of Brockville’s Music Society
• 2024 Mendelssohn violin concerto, Dvorak Symphony No.9, Mozart Requiem
• 2025 Edvard Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 4

Wolf also taught through QCM (Queen’s Community Music, Queen’s Conservatory of Music) with students of all ages in his Kingston and Toronto studios. For 24 years, he conducted a cello orchestra with up to 24 cellists, featuring elementary, secondary and university students, as well as adult learners.

Wolf was the founder and cellist of the Isabel String Quartet, the Quartet in Residence at Queen’s University. The Quartet gave performances at the Isabel Centre for the Performing Arts from 2016 – 2024, and premieried a quartet, “ex aliis matres“, composed for them by Indigenous composer Bruce Russell. The quartet also welcomed several guest artists as part of their performances, including:

• Joe Johnson – cello
• Joel Quarrington – bass
• Sadaf Amini – santur
• Kornel Wolak – clarinet
• Sarah Moon – flute

Wolf has had an active concert career, performing frequently as soloist and in chamber music concerts with his colleagues from the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Queen’s University. He was the cellist of the National Piano Trio, which is the Ensemble in Residence for the National Music Camp of Canada, where Wolf taught for over 20 years.

Wolf has recorded for the Kingston Symphony Association as well as Radio Difusao Portugal and CBC Radio Canada.

Current roles and performances:

Teacher:

Wolf currently teaches students of all ages and skill levels at his oronto studio. He works with each student individually to help them reach their goals, whether they are studying for a performance career or simply want to enjoy learning the cello. He is currently accepting students in his Toronto studio.

Learn more about Wolf’s teaching philosophy

Cellist:

Wolf is currently the Principal Cellist of the Kingston Symphony, and has played with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra for several recent projects. He plays on a Guy Harrison cello that was built for him in 2108 and is made from 100-year old German maple and Canadian spruce.

Coach/ Conductor:

Wolf is in high demand as an adjudicator for music festivals across the country. Most recent adjudications include the Alberta Provincial Finals, Edmonton Kiwanis, St. John’s Kiwanis, Pickering Kiwanis, London Kiwanis and Toronto Kiwanis Music Festivals.

“Cello orchestra is enriching, challenging and fun. Wolf is committed to bringing out the best in all of us, and as a mature player, it’s amazing to learn beside talented student musicians.”

– Nanci Corrigan, student

Teaching Philosophy