About Robert McDuffie   Grammy nominated artist 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.

His recent appearances abroad have been at the Royal Festival Hall in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Philharmonie in Cologne, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and the Musikhalle in Hamburg.

In December 2009, he gave the World Premiere of Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 2, “The American Four Seasons” — a work specially written for Robert McDuffie — with the Toronto Symphony. During the 2010–2011 season, McDuffie will embark on a 30-city U.S. tour with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, pairing the Glass “Four Seasons” with the Vivaldi “Four Seasons.”

He will also perform “The American Four Seasons” as soloist with the Düsseldorf Symphony, with the Prague Philharmonia at the Prague Spring Festival, witih the National Symphony of Mexico, the Poznan Philharmonic of Poland, and the Nashville, Louisiana, and San Antonio Symphonies. He will play the Barber Violin Concerto with the Utah and Madison Symphonies. Additional engagements this season include performances with the Zürich Chamber Orchestra at the Zürich Tonhale, and a U.S. tour with the McDuffie-Dutton-Kirshbaum Trio.

Robert McDuffie recorded “The American Four Seasons” with the London Philharmonic and Marin Alsop on the Orange Mountain Music label. His acclaimed Telarc and EMI recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, Rozsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese violin favorites. 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.

Future plans include a U.S. tour in 2012 with the Düsseldorf Symphony and Andrey Boreyko, performing the Mendelssohn and Bruch Violin Concertos. Future tours of “The American Four Seasons”, paired with the Vivaldi “Four Seasons,” have been planned in Europe for the fall of 2011, and in Asia for the fall of 2012.

Robert McDuffie is the founder of the Rome Chamber Music Festival. He was recently awarded the prestigious Premio Simpatia by the Mayor of Rome, in recognition of his contribution to the city’s cultural life. Mr. McDuffie holds the Genelle and Mansfield Jennings Distinguished University Professor Chair at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. This season, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University will celebrate its fourth academic year with concerts conducted by Maestro Robert Spano. Robert McDuffie lives in New York with his wife and two children. He plays a 1735 Guarneri del Gesù violin, known as the “Ladenburg.”