I am deeply honored to be joining the esteemed faculty of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings as the conductor of the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra this fall!

I have had the pleasure of working with these world class students at the Center several times and cannot wait to dig deeper into music together with them and the incredible team assembled by Amy and Bobby (check out this incredible faculty).

Here’s some more information about this inspiring and unique Institute:

Founded as a special institute within Mercer University’s School of Music, the McDuffie Center for Strings’ enrollment is limited to 27 students: twelve violinists, six violists, six cellists and three double bassists. Students accepted to McDuffie receive a full-tuition University scholarship.
The distinguished artists of the McDuffie Center perform, collaborate and record with the finest orchestras, string ensembles and conductors around the world. They are at the top of their fields. And, each McDuffie Center student interacts with these distinguished artists on a regular basis, which enhances the students’ private lessons, master classes, chamber music coaching sessions and orchestral sectionals, all a part of their required curriculum.
Combining this intensive, conservatory experience with the practicality of a hybrid (music-liberal arts-business) curriculum, the McDuffie Center for Strings prepares the exceptional musician for success in the real world.
Enrichment opportunities abound within the Center for Strings and the Townsend School of Music. In years past, students have recorded an album with R.E.M. founding member Mike Mills, filmed A Grand Mercer Christmas and A Night of Georgia Music for public television broadcast, and played in Carnegie Hall. All students travel to Rome, Italy, at least once to perform at the Rome Chamber Music Festival. McDuffie graduates are consistently admitted to master’s programs at top schools, including Yale, Curtis, the New England Conservatory, Michigan and Juilliard, where two of our alums have won prestigious Kovner Fellowships.
After just 10 years of graduates matriculating into the professional ranks of classical music, McDuffie students have won top prizes at the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts International Competition, the Gaspar Cassado International Cello Competition in Tokyo, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, Brevard Music Festival Concerto Competition, and have been laureates in the Tchaikovsky (Moscow) and Queen Elizabeth (Brussels) competitions. Many have gone on to join top symphony orchestras around the world, including first violin with the Berlin Philharmonic, principal bass with the Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester in Sweden, and principal violin with the San Francisco Symphony, as well as positions with the St. Louis, Houston, Nashville, Charlotte, North Carolina and Phoenix orchestras. McDuffie alumni are performing exciting new music with established and up-and-coming chamber groups (Shanghai Quartet, Collectif9, Ivala Quartet, Invoke), while others have used their entrepreneurial training to create their own music nonprofits (Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, Nashville Chamber Music Society, Concert Music Outreach Collective, Whole Soul Music) and promote themselves on social media.
The McDuffie Center for Strings’ distinguished artists, faculty and staff are dedicated to the development of student artists pursuing personal and musical excellence.

New position with the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings!