Robert McDuffie Concert

Under the evening stars on a winter night in February, the world as it seemed faded into the melodies of Stravinsky, Bach and Vivaldi. The rhythms and majestic sounds of music echoed in the Goldstein Center for the Performing Arts once again, as renowned violinist Robert McDuffie and the Mercer University Center for Strings Orchestra performed a special concert as part of the GMC Foundation’s Steinway Concert Series.

Mr. McDuffie’s appearance was a momentous occasion and a highlight to the 2009 season of art and culture at GMC.

Mr. McDuffie’s passion for music was evident as well as his prodigious energy toward mentoring and showcasing the talents of musicians from the Center for Strings, which he founded in Macon at Mercer University. While not teaching music, McDuffie tours the globe. He 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, Atlanta, and Toronto Symphonies, the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, and all of the major orchestras of Australia.

The music department at Mercer University has been most generous in their contributions toward creating wonderful evenings of peaceful reflection on the rolling landscape of the GMC Main Campus. The end of 2008 brought the beautiful voices of children singing: members of the Touring Choir (ages 9-15), a part of the Mercer University Children’s Choir and a community arts initiative of the Townsend-McAfee Institute for Sacred Music Studies. Directed by Dr. John E. Simons, the group celebrated the season of joy, lifting their voices in harmony and moving the audience with their gifts of song.