Duain Wolfe

Duain Wolfe was appointed director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus by Daniel Barenboim in the spring of 1994, succeeding founding director Margaret Hillis. He has prepared the Chicago Symphony Chorus for nearly a hundred programs in Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival, as well as in a dozen works for commercial recordings. Wolfe also directs choral works at the Aspen Music Festival and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and he is founder-director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus, a position that he maintains along with his Chicago Symphony Chorus post.

Among the many performances for which Wolfe has prepared the Chorus are Shostakovich’s Babi Yar Symphony; Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, Saint John Passion and Christmas Oratorio; Golijov’s Ainadamar; Mahler’s Second, Third and Eighth symphonies; Orff’s Carmina burana; Verdi’s Requiem; Schoenberg’s opera Moses und Aron; and world-premiere performances of John Harbison’s Four Psalms and Bernard Rands’ apókryphos, both commissioned by the CSO. He directed the Chorus for the 2010 Grammy Award-winning recording of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, his first and the Chorus’ 10th win in the Best Choral Performance category. Wolfe also prepared the Chorus for the 1998 Grammy Award-winning recording of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Sir Georg Solti as well as for recordings of Mahler’s Second Symphony (Resurrection) and Third Symphonies, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Poulenc’s Gloria on the CSO Resound label.

Wolfe also prepared the Chicago Symphony Chorus for its Carnegie Hall performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Staatskapelle Berlin, under the direction of Daniel Barenboim, in December 2000, and for performances of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron (led by Pierre Boulez) and Brahms’ A German Requiem (led by Daniel Barenboim) at the Berlin Festtage in the spring of 1999.

Creator, director and conductor of the CSO’s popular Welcome Yule! concerts, Wolfe also has conducted members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in education performances including “My Own True Voice,” “Voices in Song,” “A Company of Critters,” “Do Re Meowzart,” “Stomp Your Foot,” “Parade,” “Magical Movements,” “A World of Music, A World of Dance,” and “ ‘Big’ Ben’s Odyssey.”

Well known for his work with children, Duain Wolfe retired in 1999 from the Colorado Children’s Chorale, an organization that he founded and conducted for 25 years. Also active as an opera conductor, he worked as conductor of the Central City Opera Festival for 20 years.

Wolfe’s activities have earned him an honorary doctorate and numerous awards, including the Bonfils Stanton Award in the Arts and Humanities, the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence and the Denver Mayor’s Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline.

Duain Wolfe is a past chairman of the board of Chorus America, the national service organization for choruses.