Sunrise Mass: Mercer University Singers & Robert McDuffie Center for Strings
$24-$50 (student/senior discounts available at the box office)
- Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin
- Stanley L. Roberts, conductor
- Paul Watkins, conductor
Mack Wilberg — From the Frontier: Three American Folk Tunes (world premiere)
Béla Bartók — Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz. 113, BB. 118
Experience the excellence of Mercer University's prestigious music programs on Monday, February 17, 2025 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall. Mercer University Singers, Alumni, and Friends, alongside the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings will take the stage to enrich audiences with a thrilling repertoire presented by Distinguished Concerts International (DCINY).
Mercer University's Stanley L. Roberts and Amy Schwartz Moretti collaborate on a program highlighting classical and contemporary compositions in collaboration with guest conductor Paul Watkins from The Emerson Quartet. The ensemble includes 130 singers from the Mercer University Singers, alumni, faculty, and friends, and 51 string players, including members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra.
This evening's highlight is the enchanting Sunrise Mass by Ola Gjeilo, a four-movement work for choir and strings. The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, directed by Amy Moretti Schwartz, will perform Bartók's Divertimento for String Orchestra conducted by Paul Watkins. The concert will mark the World Premiere of Mack Wilberg's new piece .
As world-class music programs, Mercer University and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings host some of the world's best faculty and students. This concert is a testament to the dedication of these prestigious educational institutions in nurturing the next generation of musicians offering audiences a profound musical experience.
About Mercer University Singers
The Mercer Singers, an auditioned ensemble of 48 voices, is the primary touring choral ensemble of Mercer University. The choir includes undergraduate and graduate students and performs a wide range of choral music spanning from the Renaissance to works written by composers of our time. The Mercer Singers have sung on programs for the Georgia Music Educators Association, the Southern Division of NAfME (MENC), and the Southern Division of American Choral Directors Association. The choir and their director tour extensively and have performed throughout the United States and Europe. Since 2000, the Mercer Singers have experienced six highly successful international tours of England and Wales (May 2000), Italy (2002), Austria & Czech Republic (2004), Germany, Poland, Slovakia, & Hungary (2006), Japan (2007), and Russia (2011). In 2012, they joined with the McDuffie Center for Strings to film A Grand Mercer Christmas that was distributed to Public Broadcast Stations throughout America. They made their Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of their director in 2017, and will return again in February 2025. Additionally, the choir has gained a regional following with its annual performances of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held each December. The choir is widely acclaimed for its spirited performances, breadth of repertoire, and dedication to singing repertoire of the a cappella idiom.
https://music.mercer.edu/outside-the-classroom/choral-music/About Robert McDuffie Center for Strings
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 the Center 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.
https://mcduffie.mercer.edu/About Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin
Amy Schwartz Moretti has a distinguished musical career of broad versatility. Since 2007, she has been Director of the McDuffie Center for Strings and has developed the Fabian Concert Series; she also holds the Caroline Paul King Chair, teaching in the Mercer University Townsend School of Music. A performing artist with an affinity for chamber music, she enjoys touring with the Ehnes Quartet and maintains an active schedule of solo, chamber and concertmaster appearances. Recent performances include the 2019 premiere of Schmitz's Violin Concerto written for her. Her other festival appearances this summer include Bridgehampton, ChamberFest Cleveland, La Jolla, Meadowmount, and Manchester Music Festival. Moretti is former concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and Florida Orchestra. She has served as guest concertmaster for the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh; the New York Pops and Hawaii Pops; and the festival orchestras of Brevard, Colorado and Grand Teton. The Cleveland Institute of Music has recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award and she is the 2014 San Francisco Conservatory of Music Fanfare Honoree. In December 2018, Moretti was selected as one of Musical America's "Top 30 Professionals of the Year."
http://www.amyschwartzmoretti.com/