Amy Schwartz Moretti, Violin Director, and Caroline Paul King Violin Chair |
|||||||||||
Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti performs extensively as a chamber musician and soloist. Her dedication to collaboration and performance inspires her teaching. She is Director of the McDuffie Center for Strings at the Mercer University Townsend School of Music where she holds the Caroline Paul King Chair in Violin. She coordinates the Fabian Concert Series, bringing internationally acclaimed musicians to campus for masterclasses and performances, as well as the Young Artist component of the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy, where Center students have study abroad opportunities. Ms. Moretti previously served as Concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and of the Florida Orchestra. In addition, she has made concertmaster appearances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland and the New York Pops, as well as the festival orchestras of Brevard, Colorado and Grand Teton, where she currently serves as a concertmaster for music director Donald Runnicles. Throughout her career she has been an advocate for chamber music. She was instrumental in the development of intensive summer workshops for young musicians in both Florida and Oregon. Ms. Moretti is a member of the newly formed Ehnes String Quartet with James Ehnes, Richard O’Neill and Robert deMaine, that has made critically acclaimed performances in Seattle, Miami, Macon and Montréal 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 has also made numerous recent guest appearances at the Seattle, Amelia Island, ChamberFest Cleveland, Fayetteville and Rome, Italy, chamber music festivals. With her Mercer colleagues Julie Albers and Elizabeth Pridgen, she is a member of the Cortona Piano Trio that will perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in their debut with the Macon Symphony, September 2012. She is also a member of the Georgian Chamber Players in Atlanta, the Moretti Duo with her husband, jazz drummer and percussionist Steve Moretti, and she frequently performs with international artist Robert McDuffie and the Distinguished Artists of the McDuffie Center for Strings. As soloist, Ms Moretti has been featured with the Asheville, Corvallis, Florida, Omaha, Oregon, Portland-Columbia, Salem and Valdosta symphony orchestras, among others. She has appeared as guest soloist in summer concerts at the Astoria and Brevard music festivals. Many of her live performances have been streamed online and broadcast on classical FM including “Performance Today.” Ms. Moretti has recorded for Sono Luminus and CBC Records/Les disques SRC. She performs on a Jean Baptise Vuillaume violin made in 1874. Her solo CD released 2011 is Kaleidoscope, including works by Gershwin-Heifetz, Tchaikovsky, Novacek, Martinon, Kreisler, Massenet, and Moszkowski. Born in Wisconsin, raised in North Carolina and California, Ms. Moretti and her husband now live in Macon with their two young sons. Her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees are from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she graduated valedictorian, studied with Donald Weilerstein, and was coached in the Intensive Quartet Seminars led by Peter Salaff and the Cavani String Quartet. Her New York solo concerto debut was in Carnegie Hall. She made her international recital debut at the San Miguel de Allende Music Festival as violin winner of the 1997 Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Ms. Moretti was awarded fellowships from the Aspen Center for Advanced Quartet Studies directed by Earl Carlyss and was mentored by Isaac Stern at his Chamber Music Workshop in Carnegie Hall. Preparatory studies were at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Zaven Melikian. Earlier studies were with Joanne Bath in North Carolina and Margaret Pardee during summers at Meadowmount. The Cleveland Institute has recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award. |
|||||||||||
© 2012 Mercer University. All rights Reserved. |
|||||||||||