MACON – The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University is kicking off its Spring Strings Series with a special performance of the Díaz Trio Friday, February 15, at Neva Langley Fickling Hall of the McCorkle Music Building, located at 1329 Adams Street on Mercer University’s Macon campus. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free to the public. Seating is limited, and doors open 30 minutes prior to the performance. For more information, call Mercer’s Townsend School of Music at (478) 301-2748 or visit www.mercer.edu/mcduffie.
The McDuffie Center’s Spring Strings Series includes five concerts with performances by Distinguished Artists of the McDuffie Center, special guest artists and students of the McDuffie Center. In addition to the Díaz Trio, the series includes the following performances:
Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin, with Elizabeth Pridgen, piano, featuring the music of Brahms, Ravel and Gershwin, on Thursday, February 28;
Robert McDuffie, violin, with Elizabeth Pridgen, piano, McDuffie Center freshman Lavena Johanson, cello, and the McDuffie Center String Orchestra, featuring the music of Vivaldi, Ravel and others, on Tuesday, March 11;
Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin, David Halen, violin, Andrés Díaz, cello, Elizabeth Pridgen, piano, and students, on Monday, April 7;
Trio RPM comprised of Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin, Christopher Rex, cello, and Elizabeth Pridgen, piano, on Thursday, April 10.
All events will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Fickling Hall and are free to the public.
The Díaz Trio concert, including special guest performers, will be the ensemble’s second concert appearance at Mercer University this academic year. “One of the few professional string trios in existence today, the Díaz Trio has become one of the best chamber music ensembles in the United States,” according to the Naxos.com. The ensemble is comprised of renowned concert violinist, concertmaster, conductor and teacher Andrés Cárdenes, acclaimed violist and President and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music Roberto Díaz, and renowned concert cellist and Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center Andrés Díaz.
Special guest performers include violinist and director of the McDuffie Center Amy Schwartz Moretti, principal violist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Reid Harris, principal cellist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Distinguished Artist of the McDuffie Center Christopher Rex, and pianist Elizabeth Pridgen.
The program includes Serenade in C major for string trio, Op. 10 by Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960), String Trio by Jean Franç aix (1912-1997), and Sextet in B-flat major, Op. 18 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
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 2007-2008 academic year marks the inaugural year of The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. 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 7,300 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 and Atlanta; four regional academic centers across the state; a university press; two teaching hospitals — Memorial Health 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 .
