Biography

Tobias is an award-winning German conductor and composer. He is Music Director of The King’s Philharmonic Wind Orchestra, amongst a number of other ensembles. Only in his late twenties, he has performed all around the globe, he appeared on radio and television and has taken part in a top 3 UK Chart Album.

Tobias studies for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music at the University of Aberdeen under the supervision of Dr Phillip Cooke and Dr John De Simone, specialising in contemporary composition. His PhD research explores Augmented and Hybrid Performance Practice, Performance Art and Accessibility of Contemporary Music. Following his appointment as Teaching Assistant in Music and Digital Marketing Assistant in 2020, Tobias joined the University of Aberdeen School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture as a permanent member of staff with responsibilities in School Administration and for School level Marketing and Communications.

His career in the music industry started with a position at the International Beethovenfest Bonn under director Ilona Schmiel and a liaison with international participants including the world’s most renowned orchestras, soloists and conductors. He was recipient of the James Lobban Conducting Scholarship 2017, the Ogston-Carlaw Conducting Bursary 2018, he was awarded with the Carlaw-Ogston Master of Music Scholarship in 2019 and the Professor Ogston Postgraduate Research Scholarship for his PhD studies from 2020. These scholarships stand alongside a number of awards, including ‘Best Student in North Rhine-Westphalia’, National winner ‘365 Places in the Land of Ideas’, and others. Tobias Wolf studied in Cologne and Bonn in Germany before he came to live in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2015.

Prizes and Awards

• Professor Ogston Postgraduate Research Scholarship
  UoA Development Trust (2020-2023)
• Carlaw-Ogston Master of Music Scholarship
  UoA Development Trust (2019/20)
• Ogston-Carlaw Conducting Bursary
  UoA Development Trust (2018/19)
• James Lobban Conducting Scholarship
  Aberdeen Bach Choir; UoA Development Trust (2017/18)
• Erasmus+ Scholarship
  European Union; Insitut für Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Keltologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn; University of Aberdeen (2015/16)
• Best student in North Rhine-Westphalia
  Chambers of Industry and Commerce NRW (2013)
• National Winner '365 Places in the Land of Ideas'
  Jürgen Fischen, board director of Deutsche Bank; Holger Lösch, chairman of the supervisory board of 'Deutschland - Land der Ideen' (2012)
• Prize winner 'Kinder zum Olymp'
  The President of the Federal Rebuplic of Germany, Christian Wulff, Patron; General Secretary of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen (2010)
• FFF-Scholarship for outstanding students
  University of Bonn, Prof. Dr. M. Winiger, Rector (2009)

Research Overview

Much of Tobias’ music is inspired by nature and landscapes. He explores contemporary composition and performance techniques whilst trying to make music accessible for a wide range of performers. Tobias’ PhD research in composition is exploring Augmented and Hybrid Performance Practice, Performance Art and Accessibility of Contemporary Music.

Current Research

• 'The Augmented Performer'
• Composition for Hybrid Electronic-Live Performance
• Contemporary Performance Techniques
• Impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on musical composition

Past Research

• Conducting, Conducting in the context of Leadership Studies
• Music and Composition in the context of Community Music
• Implications of 16th-century Performance Practice for the Modern Conductor
• Relationships between Linguistics and Musical Composition
• British and Post-Colonial Literatures and Music Cultures
• The Music of Cologne Carnival
• Dramatic Elements in Contemporary Choral Works