2026 Virtual Adjudicators

Highly acclaimed for his musical imagination and astonishing versatility. “Control, and a smooth, elegant expressivity… are what make Wolak shine.” (John Terauds, the Toronto Star)

Winner of Debut Atlantic Tour, Prairie Debut Tour, British Columbia Touring, Allied Concerts Tour (USA, 2016), the Royal Conservatory Concerto Competition and the Presser Music Award. Mr. Wolak performed with the renowned Quartetto Gelato. Recently, he tours internationally with his acclaimed Bridge & Wolak Duo (clarinet and accordion)

He continues to expand the clarinet repertoire by commissioning new pieces. Regularly appears in recitals as chamber musician and as soloist with American and European orchestras. A “Fryderyk” nominee, Poland’s highest recording award, he is a regular fixture on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Classical 96.3 FM, Public Radio International, and in the US, National Public Radio. In 2020, the newest release by DUX Records label with Weinberg complete symphonies was nominated to the “Fryderyki” awards for best classical music album of the year.

As a soloist/clarinet clinician, he has toured and taught master classes at various Universities and Colleges in Europe, Asia and both Americas. Since August 2015 he is actively involved in research on the role of oral articulators in clarinet playing at Speech-Language Pathology Department at University of Toronto. Results of the preliminary studies have been presented at Clarinet Fest 2017 as well as at the 7th International Conference on Speech Motor Control, Groningen, the Netherlands. The research led to writing and publishing two acclaimed books furthering clarinet pedagogy.

Dr. Wolak is a regularly published author and reviewer of articles on clarinet-related issues in “The Clarinet (International Clarinet Association), Your Muse, (Poland’s largest music magazine), and National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI)

He is the founder of Music Mind Inc., an initiative that promotes music education through research and understanding.

From 20018-2025 Dr. Wolak was an Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Queen’s University.