Organ builder Hellmuth Wolff dead at age 76

Hellmuth Wolff, Canadian organ builder, died November 20, 2013, after a brief illness. He was 76 years old. (In the 2005 photo, Wolff is seated, with John Brombaugh standing.)

Born September 3, 1937, in Zurich, Switzerland, he apprenticed with Metzler & Söhne of Dietikon, before working for Rieger Orgelbau of Schwarzach, and C. B. Fisk of Gloucester, Massachusetts. In 1963, he emigrated to Canada to work with Casavant Frères, Limitéee, designing organs for their new mechanical action division.

After working with Karl Wilhelm, he established his own firm in 1968 in Laval, Québec. The firm’s website (www.orgelwolff.com) lists 50 opus numbers of instruments of all sizes, with installations throughout Canada, the United States, and in Switzerland.