Our Mission
Extraordinary string students deserve an extraordinary college experience.
The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings has assembled an unparalleled faculty of international performing artists to teach talented students in pursuit of musical excellence.
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 McDuffie 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.
Enrichment opportunities abound within the Center for Strings and the Townsend School of Music. In years past, students have recorded an album with R.E.M. founding member Mike Mills, filmed A Grand Mercer Christmas and A Night of Georgia Music for public television broadcast, and played in Carnegie Hall. All students travel to Rome, Italy, at least once to perform at the Rome Chamber Music Festival. McDuffie graduates are consistently admitted to master’s programs at top schools, including Yale, Curtis, the New England Conservatory, Michigan and Juilliard, where two of our alums have won prestigious Kovner Fellowships.
After just 10 years of graduates matriculating into the professional ranks of classical music, McDuffie students have won top prizes at the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts International Competition, the Gaspar Cassado International Cello Competition in Tokyo, the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, Brevard Music Festival Concerto Competition, and have been laureates in the Tchaikovsky (Moscow) and Queen Elizabeth (Brussels) competitions. Many have gone on to join top symphony orchestras around the world, including first violin with the Berlin Philharmonic, principal bass with the Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester in Sweden, and principal violin with the San Francisco Symphony, as well as positions with the St. Louis, Houston, Nashville, Charlotte, North Carolina and Phoenix orchestras. McDuffie alumni are performing exciting new music with established and up-and-coming chamber groups (Shanghai Quartet, Collectif9, Ivala Quartet, Invoke), while others have used their entrepreneurial training to create their own music nonprofits (Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, Nashville Chamber Music Society, Concert Music Outreach Collective, Whole Soul Music) and promote themselves on social media.
The McDuffie Center for Strings’ distinguished artists, faculty and staff are dedicated to the development of student artists pursuing personal and musical excellence.
“During my four years at the McDuffie Center, I experienced tremendous growth both as an artist and as an individual. The McDuffie Center was far different from any typical undergraduate music school education I would have received elsewhere. Because of the nature of this program and its selectively small size, my colleagues and I were afforded a substantial amount of one-on-one work with the most accomplished artists and teachers in the field. Through the McDuffie Center, I was able to travel and perform in beautiful venues from Florida and NYC all the way to Rome, Italy for Robert McDuffie’s Rome Chamber Music Festival.”
— Tiani Butts, McDuffie ‘19, Master’s degree from the University of Michigan; second violinist, Ivalas Quartet
“The McDuffie Center for Strings functions as a big 26-person family where we all support and learn from each other. The Center also has a thorough and personal investment in each student, far more than any other school I know of. These elements, combined with access to the most sought after faculty members in the country, create a learning environment that easily rivals the best schools in the country and the world, but without a price tag.”
— Keoni Bolding, McDuffie ‘19, Master’s degree from The Juilliard School; Artist Diploma at the Curtis Institute; section viola, Houston (TX) Symphony