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By Ben Mattison
05 May 2005
Violinist Robert McDuffie, founder and artistic director of the Rome Chamber Music Festival, will receive Rome's Premio Simpatia at a ceremony on May 30.
The Premio Simpatia (literally "likeability prize") has been awarded for the last 33 years to performing artists, writers, diplomats, and sports figures "who enrich and exalt the essential values of life through their work." Previous winners include director Franco Zeffirelli, actor Sofia Loren, and writer Dario Fo. McDuffie is the first American artist to receive the prize.
In announcing the prize, mayor Walter Veltroni said that McDuffie "express[es] harmony in an universal language."
McDuffie conceived of the chamber music festival in 2002, while he was a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome; it debuted last summer. The event is billed as "an international festival with an American accent": each program includes a work by an American composer.
This year's festival runs June 14-23. Performers include McDuffie, cellist Gary Hoffman, and bassist Edgar Meyer. Repertoire includes the world premiere of Paul Moravec's Atmosfera a Villa Aurelia, named for the festival's setting.
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