Bio
Pianist, singer, and composer Lorraine Nelson Wolf has played on the stages of Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. As a theater musician she has performed in over a dozen Broadway shows, from Sweeney Todd to Grease. Her composition credits include the CBS NASCAR theme, various commercial scores, and songwriting both for herself and other artists. She composed the music for the Telly Award winning documentary Four Hands, One Heart, currently airing nationwide on PBS. She has played for Chita Rivera, Marvin Hamlisch, Peter Allen, and Alan Menken, among others. Lorraine is also a harpist, organist, and accordionist. She made her New York accordion debut at the Tenri Cultural Arts Center in the summer of 2002.
EDUCATION/TRAINING
Bachelor of Music: piano performance Manhattan School of Music
Master of Music: piano performance Purchase Conservatory
Honorary Degree:
Order of the Shield Diploma,
Neupauer Conservatory of Music
Coaching:
Piano- Anya Laurence, Solomon Mikowsky,
Constance Keene, Shirley Cohen
Conducting- Robert Kapilow
Voice- Maurice Jampol, Margot Moser
AWARDS
ASCAPLUS Award recipient yearly, 2005-2012
Parents' Choice Award
for Come Follow Me! Volume 2
a CD of Waldorf-inspired
folk songs for children
Billboard 14th World Song Contest
Third Prize: I Can Feel Your Love, written with Godfrey Nelson
Honorable Mentions: I Can See God's Face In You, What Would Jesus Say, Blessed Be Your Name (with Godfrey Nelson),
Billboard 13th World Song Contest
Be Still- Honorable Mention
Blessed Redeemer- Honorable Mention
Parents' Choice Award
for Come Follow Me!
a CD of Waldorf-inspired
folk songs for children
RECENT COMPOSITION PROJECTS
Rose of Sharon
Song commissioned for the 30th Anniversary of the ordination of women in the Reformed Church of America
Premiered at General Synod in Holland, Michican
Room For All
Song written for the organization "Room For All" in honor of the work they've been doing in the Reformed Church of America.
From the Ballroom to Hell
(new work for two accordions, two recorders, two dancers, three voices and guitar)
World Premiere
Tenri Cultural Center, New York City
Co-writer with Godfrey Nelson
BROADWAY CREDITS INCLUDE:
Associate Conductor and Keyboards
Grease
Eugene O'Neill Theater
Once on This Island
by Lyn Ahrens and Steve Flaherty
First National Tour
Senator Joe
by Tom O'Horgan
Neil Simon Theater
Jekyll and Hyde
George Street Playhouse
Music Director and/or Keyboards
Smile
by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Ashman Lunt-Fontanne Theater
Sweeney Todd
by Stephen Sondheim
Circle in the Square
Bar Mitzvah Boy
by Jule Styne
American Jewish Theater
Songs of Paradise
Astor Place Theater
Little Shop of Horrors
by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
Orpheum Theater
Vivors
by Godfrey Nelson and Jake Holmes
Orpheum Theater
Cowgirls
by Mary Murfitt
Florida State Theater and Berkshire productions. Lorraine was awarded "Best Musical Direction" from the Sarasota Theater Awards.
DISCOGRAPHY
LORRAINE NELSON WOLF:
Let the Light Shine In
My Only Comfort
More Songs from Hopewell
Songs from Hopewell
Come Follow Me! Volume 2
(Parents' Choice award-winning
children’s CD)
Come Follow Me! Volume 1
(Parents' Choice award-winning
children’s CD)
The Living Church
(music composed for special services)
'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime
(traditional Christmas carols)
Four Hands, One Heart
(music from the documentary)
7 (eclectic vocals mixed with a world beat)
WITH VARIOUS ARTISTS:
Dazed and Confused
(Gypsy Bed)
Gypsy Bed
(with Godfrey Nelson)
Silly, Silly Me
(with P. D. Howlett)
Coming Out of Our Shells
(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Sarah Plain and Tall
(Glenn Close, narrator)
Through Granpa's Eyes
(Glenn Close, narrator)
Super Heroes
(The Morris Brothers)
Awakenings
(Amanda Leigh)
CHURCH WORK
Music Director
Freedom Plains United Presbyterian Church
LaGrangeville, NY 2016- present
Music Director
Reformed Church of Saugerties
Saugerties, NY 2011- 2016
Organist and Choir Director
Hopewell Reformed Church
Hopewell Junction, NY 2002–2009
Music Director and Organist
First Congregational Church
South Egremont, MA 1992–2002
Organist
St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church
Copake Falls, NY 1995–2002
Organist and Choir Director
Church of the Holy Cross
West Taghkanic, NY 2000–2002