Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London.
Between Harvard and Peabody, he spent a year in Paris where he studied composition with Olivier Messiaen and conducting with Charles Bruck.
[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.
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.