April 13, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Denise Cook
(478) 301-2933
McDuffie Center Presents Trio RPM, Student Performances at Mercer
MACON –The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University presents Trio RPM in the renowned ensemble’s final performance of the school year, Monday, April 20. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in Fickling Hall of the McCorkle Music Building on Mercer’s Macon campus. Admission is free, but seating is limited. For more information, call the Townsend School of Music at (478) 301-2748 or visit music.mercer.edu or www.mercer.edu/mcduffie.
Trio RPM is comprised of Amy Schwartz Moretti, Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer and former concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony; Christopher Rex, Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center and principal cellist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; and Elizabeth Pridgen, Piano Chair and Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center and active chamber musician. Moretti has performed all over the United States as a soloist and chamber musician in addition to her orchestral career experience as concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and The Florida Orchestra. Dedicated to teaching as well as performing, she now serves as director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer where she holds the Caroline Paul King Violin Chair. 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. Pridgen has performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and with the Mark Morris Dance Group at Jacob’s Pillow. She is an active chamber musician and has performed with esteemed artists including Hilary Hahn, Lynn Harrell, Robert McDuffie, Elmar Oliveira, Sarah Chang, and Mark O’Connor. She frequently collaborates with members of the New York Philharmonic and Boston and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, and has performed extensively at the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.
In addition, the McDuffie Center will present a Student Solo Recital on Wednesday, April 22, and a Student Chamber Music Concert on Tuesday, April 28. Both events begin at 7:30 p.m. in Fickling Hall. The concerts are free and open to the public and feature student artists of the McDuffie Center.
For more information about the concerts or the McDuffie Center, call (478) 301- 2748 or visit music.mercer.edu or www.mercer.edu/mcduffie.
Robert McDuffie Center for Strings
The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings is a highly selective program that prepares string students for success in the real world. Students study with some of the nation’s renowned string musicians, receiving music instruction of conservatory quality, while earning an academically well-rounded education from a comprehensive, nationally recognized university. The Center is a special institute within Mercer’s Townsend School of Music on the Macon campus.
Townsend School of Music
Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music and the Townsend-McAfee Institute Graduate Studies in Church Music offer undergraduate and graduate professional music studies in a comprehensive university environment. The School is nationally recognized for its outstanding faculty, award-winning students, performance ensembles and state-of-the-art facilities. It is also home to the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. Mercer University is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music.
Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University has approximately 7,700 students; 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies; major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah; three regional academic centers across the state; a university press; two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center and the Medical Center of Central Georgia; educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta; an engineering research center in Warner Robins; a performing arts center in Macon; and a NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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