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Robert McDuffie has appeared as soloist with most of the major orchestras of the world, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Chicago, San Francisco, National, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Montreal, and Toronto Symphonies, the Philadelphia, Cleveland, Minnesota Orchestras, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the North German Radio Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Hamburg Symphony, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, Jerusalem Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, Orquesta Sinfónica de Mineria, and all of the major orchestras of Australia.
Recent appearances abroad have been at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, in France with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquetaine, at the Philharmonie in Cologne with the Bochum Symphoniker, in Seoul with the KBS Symphony, in Taipei with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, in Hamburg with the Hamburg Symphony, followed by a 22 city US tour, in Jerusalem with the Jerusalem Symphony, including a 16 city US tour, and with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
This season is highlighted by the premiere of Concerto for Violin No. 2, The American Four Seasons, a new work by Philip Glass written for Robert McDuffie - the World Premiere with the Toronto Symphony, the European Premiere with the London Philharmonic, the US Premiere at the Aspen Music Festival. He will record the concerto, along with the Vivaldi Four Seasons, for Telarc. He returns to the Cartagena, Aspen, and Amelia Island Festivals, as well as the Rome Chamber Music Festival, where he is Founder and Artistic Director. He played with the National Symphony Orchestra on the West Lawn of the Capitol in the annual Memorial Day Celebration, which was televised live over PBS. Future plans include a US tour with the Dűsseldorf Symphony with Andrey Boreyko. He will tour with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, performing the Glass Concerto for Violin No. 2 and the Vivaldi Four Seasons - a 30 city tour of the US in the fall of 2010; a tour of Europe in the fall of 2011; and a tour of Asia in the fall of 2012.
McDuffie is a Grammy nominated artist, whose acclaimed Telarc and EMI recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, Rozsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese favorites. He plays a 1735 Guarneri del Gesu violin, known as the "Ladenburg". He has been profiled on NBC's "Today", "CBS Sunday Morning", PBS's "Charlie Rose", A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts", and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Robert McDuffie is a Distinguished University Professor of Music at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. In fall 2009, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University entered its third academic year. The Mayor of Rome has recently awarded Robert McDuffie the prestigious Premio Simpatia in recognition of his contribution to the cultural life of that city. He lives in New York with his wife and two children. www.robertmcduffie.com
Updated 11/18/09
Visit the official Robert McDuffie website.
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Amy Schwartz Moretti
Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti has made solo and collaborative appearances that have taken her across the United States and abroad, performing in venues that include Weill Recital Hall, Rome’s Gonfalone Oratory, Severance Hall, Spivey Hall, Dali Museum, Edinburgh Castle, 92nd Street Y and the Crystal Cathedral. Her New York concerto debut was in Carnegie Hall. In recent engagements, she was featured soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Corvallis Symphony in Oregon for the closing concert of their 2008-2009 season and guest artist at the Winter Festival of the Seattle Chamber Music Society in Benaroya Hall. In summer 2009 she returned to perform at the Seattle, Amelia Island, and Madison Chamber Music Festivals. In 2008, she joined Robert McDuffie in Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins at the Aspen Music Festival, performed in Italy at the Rome Chamber Music Festival, made her solo debut with the Omaha Symphony and Music Director Thomas Wilkins, and was featured soloist at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina with Keith Lockhart conducting.
Formerly Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony in Portland and earlier, The Florida Orchestra in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, Ms. Moretti’s orchestral career spanned nearly eight seasons. In Florida, she served under music director Jahja Ling and his successor Stefan Sanderling, and in Oregon, music director Carlos Kalmar. She performed in the Oregon Symphony String Quartet and was artistic director of Florida’s Bay Area Music Summer Chamber Workshop for young musicians. The late Skitch Henderson invited her to serve as guest concertmaster of the New York Pops in Carnegie Hall and Bryant Park. She was guest concertmaster of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra with music director Michael Christie, and in a return engagement with the Oregon Symphony, was guest concertmaster with Itzhak Perlman on the conductor’s podium. During the 2008-2009 season, she served as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Haydn’s The Creation with music director Robert Spano and the ASO Chorus, and Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony with principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles. At neighborhood concerts in northeastern Ohio, she was concertmaster of CityMusic Cleveland with music director James Gaffigan and during the summer 2009, she performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Wyoming as concertmaster for music director Donald Runnicles and guest conductor Osmo Vänskä.
In 2007, Ms. Moretti was invited by international concert artist Robert McDuffie to join the faculty of the Mercer University Townsend School of Music as Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. A dedicated teacher she holds the Caroline Paul King Violin Chair and coordinates the Robert McDuffie and Friends Labor Day Festival for Strings as well as the Center’s chamber music performances off campus. In 2008 and 2009, Center students were presented in McDuffie Center Showcase Concerts collaborating with Mr. McDuffie and faculty at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival in Florida. Ms Moretti performs frequently with the distinguished artists of the McDuffie Center and since coming to Mercer, has joined her colleagues Christopher Rex, Atlanta Symphony Principal Cellist, and Elizabeth Pridgen, concert pianist, to form Trio RPM, which has appeared in Florida, Alabama and Georgia. In 2009 at the Madison Chamber Music Festival, they premiered Hardy’s Lark by Minnesota composer Libby Larsen that was commissioned for them in honor of the 200th anniversary season of Haydn and Mendelssohn and the city of Madison’s bicentennial year. She also performs in the Moretti Duo with her husband, jazz drummer and classical percussionist Steve Moretti; a television profile of them was aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “ArtBeat” in 2006. Frequently a guest at national and international music festivals, Ms. Moretti collaborated most recently with artists Andrew Armstrong, Robert deMaine, Andrés Díaz, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Robert McDuffie, Adam Neiman, Elmar Oliveira, Richard O’Neill, Bion Tsang and the Díaz Trio. She has been heard in live performances and interviews broadcast on classical radio stations and streamed online.
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Julie Albers
Julie Albers is already recognized for her superlative artistry, her charismatic and radiant performing style, and her intense musicianship. She was born in 1980 to a musical family in Longmont, Colorado. She began violin studies at the age of two with her mother, switching to cello at four.
She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Miss Albers soon was awarded the Grand Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai, France, and as a result toured France as soloist with Orchestre Symphonique de Douai.
Julie Albers made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1998, and thereafter has performed in recital and with orchestras in the U.S., Europe, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. In 2001 she won Second Prize in Munich’s Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, at which time she was also awarded the Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch 2001. While in Germany, she recorded solo and chamber music of Kodaly for the Bavarian Radio, performances that have been heard throughout Europe. In November 2003, Miss Albers was named the first Gold Medal Laureate of South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition, winning the $25,000 Grand Prize.
In America, Miss Albers has performed with many important orchestras and ensembles. Her current and upcoming engagements include performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Utah Symphony, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Moritzburg Festival in Germany, the Colorado Symphony, the Chautauqua Festival, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Charlotte Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony, the Spokane Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, the Reno Philharmonic, and the Grand Rapids Symphony.
In addition to solo performances, Miss Albers regularly participates in chamber music festivals around the world. In the fall of 2006 she began a three-year residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. She is currently active with the Albers String Trio and the cello quartet, CELLO. Miss Albers is also on the faculty of Kean University as a member of the Concert Artist program.
October, 2005 marked the release of Miss Albers’ debut album on the Artek label. This disc includes works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Schumann, Massenet, and Piatagorsky. Julie Albers performs on a N.F. Vuillaume cello made in 1872 and makes her home in New York City.
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David Halen
David Halen, concertmaster of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, is living a dream that began when he first saw the St. Louis Symphony perform in his home town of Warrensburg, Missouri. His musical influences began at home: his father, Walter Halen, was also his violin professor at Central Missouri State University, Mr. Halen began playing the violin at age six, graduated from high school at sixteen and two years later, at the age of eighteen, he won the Music Teachers National Association Competition and was granted a Fulbright scholarship for study in Germany with Wolfgang Marschner at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik; the youngest-ever recipient of this award.
Mr. Halen’s career has included title positions with the Houston Symphony under Christoph Eschenbach, and he has served as concertmaster in St. Louis under Leonard Slatkin, the late Hans Vonk, and currently David Robertson. He has appeared extensively as soloist with the St. Louis Symphony and the Houston, San Francisco, and West German Radio (Cologne) symphonies. In addition to serving on the faculty and as concertmaster (under David Zinman) at the Aspen Music Festival, he is a visiting artist at Yale University, artistic director of the Innsbrook Institute, and a Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University.
Mr. Halen plays a 1753 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, made in Milan, Italy.
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Eugene Levinson
Eugene Levinson enjoys a unique career as a world-class soloist and as Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic since May 1985, in addition to being one of the foremost and world-renowned double bass teachers.
Mr. Levinson was born in Kiev and began his musical studies at the age of nine. He graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory, where he later received his doctoral degree and was, at the age of 29, the youngest member to be appointed to this illustrious institution's faculty. For 13 years, Mr. Levinson was the principal bass of the Leningrad Chamber Orchestra and a member of the Leningrad Philharmonic for nearly 16years. During this period, he made many solo and ensemble appearances on U.S.S.R. radio and television, in addition to releasing three recordings on the Melodiya Records label.
In 1977 Eugene Levinson became the principal bass of the Minnesota Orchestra as well as a featured soloist. He released his first U.S. recording under the Pro Arte label, featuring the Franck Sonata in A major and works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky. Each of these compositions was transcribed and edited by Mr. Levinson for the bass and recorded with his wife, the pianist Gina Levinson. These recordings sold out in record time, especially in Asia, where they are expected to be re-released. In June 1996 Eugene Levinson released New York Legends under the Cala Records label.
Many of Mr. Levinson’s students have achieved positions as members of prestigious orchestras throughout the world, and some have been named principals. Mr. Levinson is often asked to participate in double bass forums in the U.S. and in Europe, and has led numerous master classes and orchestral playing workshops. In March 2007 he gave a series of master classes at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy, attracting students from all over Italy, including those who were participating in the Orchestra Giovanile and members of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra. Portions of these classes will soon be available for viewing on www.xbass.org.
He has given other master classes at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, Japan; the Hague State Conservatory in the Netherlands (1995); and at the Conservatory of Music in Lausanne, Switzerland, while the New York Philharmonic was on a European tour (1996).
In March 1997, Mr. Levinson was invited to the Reina Sofia Superior School of Music in Madrid, Spain, as a guest artist, where he gave a five-day master class. In November of 1997, he was invited as a special guest by the Danish Bass Society to celebrate its tenth anniversary where, in the course of 10 days, he gave a series of master classes, performed a recital and chamber music, and conducted an orchestra comprising 50 basses and organ.
Mr. Levinson has taught at the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, and the Peabody Conservatory, and has been a visiting artist at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and the Hidden Valley Music Seminars in Carmel Valley, California.
Since his arrival in the United States in 1977, Mr. Levinson has also been on the faculty of the Indiana University Summer School, and has been an annual faculty member of the Sarasota Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival and School since 1979. He has been a member of the bass department faculty of The Juilliard School since 1985, where he has championed a number of new works that were written for him by prominent composers associated with Juilliard. He was co-chairman of the bass department from 1992 to 2002.
Mr. Levinson has appeared frequently as soloist with the New York Philharmonic since joining the Orchestra in 1985. In 1986 he performed Koussevitzky’s Bass Concerto under the direction of Zubin Mehta; the work was subsequently recorded with other compositions performed by the New York Philharmonic’s principal players. In November 1996 Mr. Levinson performed the New York Philharmonic premiere of Eduard Tubin’s Bass Concerto, under the direction of Kurt Masur. And in January 2004 he performed the bass obbligato part in the New York Philharmonic premiere of Mozart’s Bass Concert Aria, “Per questa bella mano,” K.612, with bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, conducted by Riccardo Muti. The concert was broadcast on Live From Lincoln Center, broadcast on PBS.
Eugene Levinson has had three of his transcriptions published: The Franck Sonata by Medici, The Misek Sonata, and J.C. Bach’s Adagio by International. In 2002, he wrote a new technical method book entitled School of Agility, released by Carl Fischer, which describes his innovative and effective method of bass playing. Carl Fischer Music has released his two-CD set, The Art of Eugene Levinson of music never before available on CD.
In 2003 Mr. Levinson was honored with the distinguished Special Recognition Award in Orchestral Performance from the International Society of Bassists for his “extraordinary skills and contribution to the worldwide community of bassists.”
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Kurt Muroki
Kurt Muroki, a native of Maui, Hawaii, began his musical studies on the violin at the age of six and subsequently performed concerti with the Honolulu Symphony and the Maui Symphony. Mr. Muroki went on to study the Double bass at the age of 13 and entered the Juilliard School of Music at 17 studying with his teacher / mentor Homer R. Mensch. At the age of 21 Kurt began performing with the internationally renowned Sejong Soloists under ICM Management.
Kurt is an Honorary Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Jupiter Chamber Players, Concertante Chamber Players , Speculum Musicae, "Great Performers" series at Lincoln Center, Ensemble Sospeso, Sequitur, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Tokyo Opera Nomori, New York City Ballet, the 92nd St. Y, and Bargemusic, and festivals including Marlboro Music Festival, Festival L'Autonne at IRCAM, and Saito Kinen to name a few. Kurt is also active playing movies, commercials, popular and classical recordings with titles including the Oscar®-winning film "The Departed", "The Good Shepherd", "Hitch", "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead", "The Manchurian Candidate", “Roger Daltrey Sings Pete Townshend” - The Who, "Halcyon Days" - Bruce Hornsby.
Mr. Muroki has won numerous competitions including 1st prize in the Aspen Music Festival double bass competition, the first bassist to win the New World Symphony concerto competition, and the Honolulu Symphony Young Artists competition. He has collaborated with members of the Guarneri, Emerson, Juilliard, Tokyo, Orion quartets, the Ensemble Wein-Berlin, Jaime Laredo, Lynn Harrell, Maurice Bourgue, Toru Takemitsu, Peter Schickele, John Zorn, and Brian Ferneyhough among others, and has performed concerto tours throughout Asia and the United States.
Mr. Muroki is currently the double bass teacher at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Artist in Residence at Stony Brook University, and the New Jersey City University.
Kurt performs on a Nicolo Amati c1665 double bass once owned by Domenico Dragonetti.
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Paul Murphy
Currently the associate principal violist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Paul Murphy previously held principal positions with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Caracas (Venezuela) Philharmonic, and was a regular player with the St. Louis Symphony. He has also performed as guest principal viola for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Murphy is a native of Pensacola, Florida, where he studied with the renowned Anna Tringas. He later graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where his principal teachers were David Cerone and Robert Vernon. Mr. Murphy has performed extensively with the Emory Chamber Music Society, the Atlanta Chamber Players, the Georgian Chamber Players, and the Minneapolis Artists’ Ensemble. He is also an Artist Affiliate at Emory University.
Mr. Murphy has recorded extensively with the rock bands R.E.M and Collective Soul and has also worked with Stone Temple Pilots, Indigo Girls, Usher, Widespread Panic, and Outkast.
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Elizabeth Pridgen
Praised for her “big piano presence” (American Record Guide), Elizabeth Pridgen has distinguished herself as a soloist and chamber musician. Recent concerts include appearances at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, the Tilles Center on Long Island, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, and the “Rising Stars Series” at the Ravinia Festival. Ms. Pridgen has also performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and the Kosciuszko Foundation, and in recitals in Washington D.C., Aruba, Curaçao, and throughout the Southeast. She has appeared as soloist with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Rome Symphony Orchestra, and Dekalb Symphony Orchestra. For seven consecutive seasons she has been a featured performer at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.
This summer, in addition to Amelia Island, she will be performing at the Rome Chamber Festival in Rome, Italy, the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and the Madison Chamber Music Festival in Madison, Georgia. Ms. Pridgen collaborates regularly with Elmar Oliveira, Robert McDuffie, Andres Diaz, the Diaz String Trio, and the American String Quartet. She has also performed with Lynn Harrell, Hilary Hahn, Sarah Chang, Rachel Barton Pine, and Mark O’Connor. Ms. Pridgen is a member of the newly founded Trio RPM with violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti, Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, and Christopher Rex, Principal Cellist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Pridgen is a Distinguished Artist and Piano Chair at the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University.
Ms. Pridgen received her Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School where she studied with Joseph Kalichstein. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the Peabody Conservatory of Music as a student of Ann Schein. Other teachers include Claude Frank, Pamela Frank, Leon Fleisher, and Ursula Oppens. Ms. Pridgen spent two summers at the Tanglewood Music Center where she was awarded the piano prize and selected to perform with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and the Mark Morris Dance Group at Jacob’s Pillow. She has also been a participant at the Aspen Music Festival, International Musicians’ Seminar in Prussia Cove, England, and the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Ms. Pridgen currently resides in Macon and New York City.
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Christopher Rex
Christopher Rex joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Principal Cello in 1979, the same year in which he became the first cellist ever to win the string prize in the biennial Young Artists Competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs and since then has appeared as recitalist and chamber musician across the nation.
He took up the cello at age eight, completing a family string quartet in his hometown of Winter Park, Florida. Following his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Orlando Cole and at The Juilliard School with Leonard Rose, he was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra under director Eugene Ormandy for seven seasons. He has taught at Gettysburg College, the New School of Music in Philadelphia, Georgia State University, and the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In the summer of 1988, he shared Acting Principal duties for the New York Philharmonic's European tour, replacing Lorne Munrow. He is a founding member of the Georgian Chamber Players, whose concerts have included guest performers such as Emanuel Ax, Andras Schiff, Misha Dichter, Yefim Bronfman, Robert McDuffie, Lynn Harrell, Ruth Laredo, Lee Luvisi, and Janos Starker. In 1994,
Mr. Rex, together with his brother, Charles Rex, Associate Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, premiered a new double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra by Stephen Paulus to sold-out audiences at four concerts in Lincoln Center with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. The Rex brothers presented a program in Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in February 2001, as a tribute to their father, Charles Gordon Rex, Sr. At this recital only music that was composed by their father was performed. Christopher Rex also performed in Carnegie Hall as sololist with the Manhattan Philharmonic again with his brother Charles in the "Poet and the Muse" by Camille Saint Saens.
Mr. Rex's most recent solo appearances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra include performances of the Shostakovitch Concerto No. 1, Strauss' Don Quixote, the Victor Herbert Concerto #2, Dvorak Concerto, and the Elgar Cello Concerto. Mr. Rex is Founder and the General and Artistic Director of the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. He is Artistic Director of the Madison Chamber Music Festival and on the Board of Directors of Chamber Music America.
Mr. Rex is a regular performer at the Highlands Chamber Music Festival and has been Principal Cellist of the orchestras at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado, and the Grand Tetons Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. He has performed as soloist at the Brevard Music Festival and Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina and the Chatauqua Festival in New York. He has been invited to play at the Montreal Chamber Music Festival in May 2007. In March of 2008 he will be the featured soloist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the Cello Concerto of Samuel Barber. In the fall of 2007, Mr. Rex will become the Cello Chair of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.
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Sabina Thatcher
Sabina Thatcher began her tenure in 1989 as principal violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has been a soloist with the SPCO on numerous occasions, performing a wide variety of repertoire, including Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, John Harbison’s Viola Concerto, and Lachrymae by Benjamin Britten.
An active chamber musician as well, Ms. Thatcher is a member of the Rosalyra String Quartet, which made its New York debut in 1996 and has released an album of Bartók and Beethoven quartets on the Boston Records label. In 2000, Rosalyra received a McKnight Artist Fellowship that facilitated a second recording featuring two Shostakovich quartets.
Ms. Thatcher is a faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School, a Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, and has performed in festivals throughout the United States and abroad, including the Spoleto Festival and the Mozart Festival in Lille, France. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and studied further with Lillian Fuchs at The Juilliard School.
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