Robert McDuffie, violin

The Venice Baroque Orchestra was founded in 1997 by harpsichordist Andrea Marcon and is recognized as one of Europe's premier ensembles devoted to period instrument performance. For this UMS debut, they perform music of their home city – Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons – paired with an “American Four Seasons” by Philip Glass featuring violinist Robert McDuffie, who has worked closely with Glass over the years and who last appeared with the Jerusalem Symphony in 2008. The VBO will perform the Vivaldi on period instruments, then switch to modern-day instruments for the Glass composition. “The first performance of [Philip Glass's Violin Concerto No. 2, ”˜The American Four Seasons,'] was so spectacularly played by the new piece's muse, American violinist Robert McDuffie”¦that the event turned into one of the most exciting musical evenings of the year.” (The Toronto Star)

Program · Vivaldi : The Four Seasons, Op. 8 (1723) · Glass : Violin Concerto No. 2: “The American Four Seasons” (2009)