Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti is an accomplished chamber musician, solo artist, teacher and concertmaster. She began playing violin at the age of four and by twelve made her solo debut with the Winston-Salem Symphony. She studied with Joanne Bath in North Carolina, spending several summers at the Meadowmount School with long-time Juilliard faculty member Margaret Pardee. Preparatory studies were at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Zaven Melikian, concertmaster emeritus of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Undergraduate and graduate studies were with Donald Weilerstein, founding first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet, at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where Peter Salaff and the Cavani String Quartet coached her in the Intensive Quartet Seminars.

Mentored by Isaac Stern at his Chamber Music Workshop in Carnegie Hall, Ms Moretti performed in Carnegie’s main hall as first violinist of the award-winning Cambiata String Quartet. Awarded fellowships from the Aspen Center for Advanced Quartet Studies directed by Earl Carlyss, she was coached by some of the finest chamber musicians of our time. 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. Her Carnegie Hall solo concerto debut was in 1998 with the New York Youth Symphony, a few months before graduating valedictorian from the Cleveland Institute. The following year, she won the concertmaster audition of The Florida Orchestra marking the beginning of her professional career.

Ms Moretti has also been concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony. Her solo appearances with the Symphony and music director Carlos Kalmar include Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto “To the Memory of an Angel” which was broadcast throughout Oregon on OPB radio. Many of her live performances have been streamed online and broadcast on classical FM including “Performance Today.” She has recorded for Sono Luminus and CBC Records/Les disques SRC. Her solo CD released 2011 isKaleidoscope.

Throughout her career, Ms Moretti has performed extensively as a chamber musician. She has appeared in premier venues including New York’s Weill Recital Hall, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, and numerous festivals including Aspen, Rome, Seattle and Chamber Music Northwest. Collaborations have included performances with many distinguished artists including Lynn Harrell, Jon Kimura Parker, David Shifrin, the Díaz String Trio and members of the Emerson and Guarneri string quartets. She has also been instrumental in the development of intensive summer chamber music workshops for young musicians both in Florida and Oregon.

Ms Moretti is a member of the Ehnes String Quartet (with James Ehnes, Richard O’Neill and Robert deMaine), a piano trio with her Mercer colleagues (Elizabeth Pridgen and Julie Albers), and she collaborates frequently with Robert McDuffie. She is a member of the Georgian Chamber Players in Atlanta and the Moretti Duo with her husband jazz drummer and percussionist Steve Moretti. She also serves as a concertmaster at the Grand Teton Music Festival with music director Donald Runnicles, and has made concertmaster appearances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the New York Pops, CityMusic Cleveland, and the festival orchestras of Brevard and Colorado.

Currently Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Georgia, Ms Moretti is also an established teacher holding the Caroline Paul King Violin Chair. She coaches small chamber ensembles and directs the Center String Orchestra. She coordinates the Fabian Concert Series and the education component of the Rome Chamber Music Festival where Center students have study abroad opportunities.

Born in Wisconsin, raised in North Carolina and California, Ms Moretti lives in Macon with her husband and two young sons. The Cleveland Institute has recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award.