“He’s the most talented classical violinist to ever come from Georgia.” That resounding statement comes from Newnan’s native son and Wadsworth and Friends concert host Charles Wadsworth about Georgia-born and world-famous violinist Robert McDuffie. McDuffie has been profiled frequently in television programs and newspapers as being one of America’s finest violinists.
McDuffie is a Distinguished University Professor of Music at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon. In 2011, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, a highly selective program that prepares string students for success in the real world, entered its fifth academic year at Mercer. The entire 24-piece McDuffie String Ensemble will join McDuffie on the Wadsworth Auditorium stage and present Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a series of four concertos widely regarded as one of the great masterworks in all of Western classical music.
McDuffie lives in New York with his wife and two children but travels the world and has established a reputation as a superb violin soloist with most of the major orchestras of the world. He plays an extremely valuable and exquisite 1735 Guarneri del Gesu violin, known as the “Ladenburg.” The mint condition Ladenburg violin has been appraised by well-known Christies auction house of London to be in excess of $3.5 million and its list of players has included the 19th-century virtuosos Nicolò Paganini and Ludwig Spohr.
“Few Newnan and Coweta County residents can appreciate the significance of my being able to bring McDuffie to Newnan,” said Wadsworth. “You just can’t know. McDuffie is a world-class violinist who travels with a multi-million dollar violin and he picks and chooses any world stage on which he wants to perform. Newnan will never, ever feature a finer classical violinist and the people who attend this concert will never, ever hear a more accomplished violinist.”
Performing on the stage with McDuffie and the string ensemble will be soprano Jeanine De Bique and the baritone Christòpheren Nomura. They will entertain the audience with a selection of solos and duets. De Bique is a versatile performer whose concerts and recitals have ranged from operatic to spiritual selections. Nomura has been celebrated for his warm, robust, and clear vocal range and his wide repertoire. And Newnan’s own Charles Wadsworth will again serve as host and accompanist.
Musically and artistically, the evening will feature one of the finest, largest groups of classical musicians ever to perform on the historic Wadsworth Auditorium stage.
In view of last year’s sold-out concert early ticket purchases are recommended.
General Admission tickets for the concert are budget priced at $20 and are available at Scott’s Book Store and at Let Them Eat Toffee on the Courthouse Square, at Morgan Jewelers in Ashley Mall or at the Bank of Coweta at Thomas Crossroads. Patron tickets for the event, including a post concert reception, are also available. Patron inquiries are invited and information is available from Concert Chair John White 770-253-1959.
