This symphonic event opens with selections from R.E.M.’s legendary playlist newly reimagined for orchestra and concludes with R.E.M.’s Mike Mills performing his eponymous Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and Orchestra alongside Grammy-nominated violinist Robert McDuffie.
Mike Mills
Mike Mills is one of the founding members of R.E.M., the internationally-acclaimed rock band from Athens, GA. His trademark vocal harmonies and intricate bass lines led fans and critics alike to dub him the band’s “secret weapon.”
Born in Orange County, California, Mills moved to Macon, Georgia, where he and drummer Bill Berry attended the same high school. The pair left Macon to attend the University of Georgia in Athens where they teamed up with guitarist Peter Buck and singer Michael Stipe, and began writing songs for the band which would become R.E.M. The group’s first show was at a friend’s birthday party in an abandoned church on April 5, 1980.
Mills, the son of a tenor who sang on The Ed Sullivan Show and in the Naval Aviation Choir, developed a keen ear for harmonies and a talent for playing instruments at an early age. He has always been known for his musicianship, songwriting, vocals, and production sensibilities in his work with R.E.M., as well as his side projects and solo works. He also contributed piano, keyboards and assorted other instruments. After thirty-one years and more than eighty million records sold, R.E.M. disbanded in 2011, but the band members remain good friends and actively pursue further musical adventures and other artistic and humanistic pursuits.
R.E.M., one of the seminal groups of its generation, won numerous awards and toured most corners of the world throughout their storied career. Despite several hit singles such as Everybody Hurts, Losing My Religion, Man on the Moon, Leaving New York, and The One I Love, R.E.M. always maintained their creative edge, and along with it, critical acclaim and their loyal and supportive fan base.
Robert McDuffie
Violinist
Emmy Award-winning violinist Robert McDuffie enjoys a dynamic and multifaceted career. While appearing as soloist with renowned orchestras on five continents, he has also shared the stage with eclectic musicians such as R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell. Philip Glass dedicated his Violin Concerto No. 2, The American Four Seasons to Mr. McDuffie and he has performed it more than 100 times around the world. Mike Mills composed Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and Orchestra for him. This year, he received an Emmy Award for A Night of Georgia Music with Mike Mills, Chuck Leavell, rock band and the McDuffie Center for Strings ensemble, which is currently airing on PBS stations across America. Mr. McDuffie is the founder of both the Rome Chamber Music Festival in Italy and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in his native city of Macon, Georgia.
He recently completed a U.S. tour performing Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, including a critically acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall. He has also appeared as soloist with most of the premier orchestras of the world, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics; the Chicago, San Francisco, National, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Montreal, and Toronto Symphonies; the Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Minnesota Orchestras; the London and Czech Philharmonics; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, North German Radio Orchestra, Düsseldorf Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Hamburg Symphony, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and all of the major orchestras of Australia.
Mr. McDuffie has a wide-ranging discography and his recent release, Icons, with pianist Elizabeth Pridgen, features sonatas of Philip Glass and John Corigliano as well as John Adams’ Road Movies. His acclaimed Telarc, Orange Mountain, and EMI recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Mills, Barber, Rózsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese violin favorites. He has been profiled on NBC’s Today, CBS’s Sunday Morning, and in The New York Times and The Wall
Street Journal.
He has been awarded several honors in Italy: the Premio Simpatia by the Mayor of Rome; the Medaglia Ufficiale della Camera dei Deputati and the Medaglia Speciale del Natale di Roma recognizing the Rome Chamber Music Festival’s 20th anniversary; the Premio delle Muse in Florence. Mr. McDuffie served for ten years on the board of directors of the Harlem School of the Arts in New York City where he was chairman of the artistic and education committee. He plays a 1735 Guarneri del Gesù violin, known as the “Ladenburg.” This instrument is owned by a limited partnership formed by Mr. McDuffie. www.robertmcduffie.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA