Hugh Wolff (born 1953) achieved a national reputation as a talented conductor and in the 1990s was considered one of a handful of Americans who would lead the major orchestras of the future. He was musical director of the New Jersey Symphony and principal conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He had also been a guest conductor with many of the best-known orchestras in the United States.

His family was living in Paris when Hugh Wolff was born in 1953. His father was a U.S. foreign service officer, and the family subsequently moved to postings in London and the Washington, D.C. area. When Wolff was 10 years old he became fascinated by the piano while watching his sister practice. Later, in his own words, he became "one of those obnoxious twelve-year-olds who practiced every day, entered local piano competitions, and endured the jeers of the neighborhood kids because...