Arts advocate, musical collaborator and violin virtuoso Robert McDuffie will receive an honorary doctor of music degree during Emory’s 179th Commencement.
Born into a musical family in Macon, Georgia, McDuffie trained at New York City’s Juilliard School. In a dynamic and multifaceted career, he has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras on five continents.
At Mercer University in his hometown, he founded the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings — which offers conservatory-quality training — and holds the Genelle and Mansfield Jennings Distinguished University Professor Chair. He also holds the Robert McDuffie Violin Faculty Chair at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Philip Glass dedicated his Violin Concerto No. 2, “The American Four Seasons,” to McDuffie, who performed the world premiere with the Toronto Symphony and completed a 30-city tour with the Venice Baroque Orchestra, pairing Glass’s “Four Seasons” with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.”
Mike Mills of the iconic band R.E.M., a childhood friend of McDuffie, composed the Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra for McDuffie. The concerto premiered with the Toronto Symphony, followed by performances at the Rome Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and a three-week tour of the U.S.
Nominated for a Grammy in 1990 for his performance of concertos by Leonard Bernstein and William Schuman, McDuffie in 2023 received a Southeast Regional Emmy Award for “A Night of Georgia Music” with Mills, Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell and the McDuffie Center for Strings ensemble, which aired on PBS stations across the country.
McDuffie shared the stage with Leavell and the late Gregg Allman in “Midnight Rider” and with actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” performed at the 2013 Aspens Ideas Festival in honor of the letter’s 50th anniversary.
As founder of the Rome Chamber Music Festival, McDuffie has been awarded the prestigious Premio Simpatia by the mayor of Rome, Italy, in recognition of his contribution to the city’s cultural life.
Known for his wide-ranging discography, McDuffie recently released “Icons” with pianist Elizabeth Pridgen, which features sonatas of Philip Glass and John Corigliano as well as John Adams’s “Road Movies.”
For 10 years, McDuffie served on the board of directors of the Harlem School of the Arts in New York City.
He has been profiled on NBC’s “Today,” CBS’s “Sunday Morning” and in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
McDuffie plays a Guarneri del Gesù violin made in 1735 named the “Ladenburg,” whose list of players has included the 19th-century virtuosos Nicolò Paganini and Ludwig Spohr.