The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University presents “Director’s Choice”, a concert featuring Center director and distinguished faculty artist Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin, at the Neva Langley Fickling Hall in Mercer University’s McCorkle Music Building on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. Part of the Fabian Concert Series, this performance includes Moretti in various combinations with distinguished artist faculty Lawrence Dutton, viola; Rachel Calin, bass; and Elizabeth Pridgen, piano. Students from any school or university and those with Mercer I.D. receive one free ticket. All other tickets are $12. To buy tickets, visit tickets.mercer.edu or call (478) 301-5470.

“This program features many duets: violin and viola, violin and piano, and violin and bass,” said Schwartz Moretti, who holds the Caroline Paul King chair in violin. “Larry (Dutton, of the Emerson String Quartet), who is the violist of the Emerson Quartet, and I will be playing Mozart’s Duo in G major as well as the delightful Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia. Elizabeth and I will be playing Schubert’s Rondo Brilliant for violin and piano. It is incredibly challenging in both parts, but extremely fun and exhilarating to play. It will be a celebratory finish to the wonderful Fabian Concert Series.”
Violinist Schwartz Moretti performs extensively as a chamber musician and soloist. She has appeared across North America and in Europe since her solo concerto debut at Carnegie Hall in 1998. Recent engagements include concerts in Seattle, Montréal, Macon, Cleveland, Miami, Atlanta and Rome, Italy. She has performed at Chamber Music Northwest and the Aspen Music Festival in duos with Robert McDuffie, and was featured soloist at the Brevard Music Center with Keith Lockhart conducting. She has been featured with the orchestras of Asheville, Corvallis, Florida, Omaha, Oregon, Portland-Columbia, Salem and Valdosta, among others, and at the Astoria Music Festival. Ms. Moretti is a member of the newly formed Ehnes String Quartet that has made critically acclaimed performances during the 2011-12 season leading to numerous upcoming engagements including a European tour with appearances in London’s Wigmore Hall and the Musée du Louvre in Paris. She is also a member of the Cortona Piano Trio, the Georgian Chamber Players of Atlanta and serves as a concertmaster for music director Donald Runnicles at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming. Formerly Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and Florida Orchestra, Ms. Moretti coordinates the Fabian Concert Series at Townsend School of Music and in Italy, oversees the Young Artist component of the Rome Chamber Music Festival. Born in Wisconsin, Ms. Moretti grew up in North Carolina and California and now lives in Georgia with her husband and two young sons. Her solo CD Kaleidoscope (Sono Luminus) was released in 2011.
About Townsend School of Music

Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings and the Townsend-McAfee Institute for Graduate Studies offer undergraduate and graduate professional music studies in a comprehensive university environment. Townsend is nationally recognized for its outstanding faculty, award-winning students, performance ensembles and state-of-the-art facilities. The McDuffie Center, a special institute within Townsend School of Music, is a highly selective program that prepares string students for success in the real world. Students study with some of America’s most renowned string musicians, receiving music instruction of conservatory quality, while earning an academically well-rounded education from a comprehensive, nationally recognized university. For more information and a complete listing of this season’s concerts please visit mercer.edu/music/ or call (478) 301-5751.