Join guest soloists and friends of Maestro Donald Portnoy as they celebrate the Maestro’s 31 years of conducting and music making. This special concert also includes Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra by R.E.M.’s Mike Mills for Grammy-nominated violinist Robert McDuffie, whom the Chicago Sun Times stated, “The evening’s hero was the remarkable American fiddler Robert McDuffie…[who] plays with magnetic energy and seeming effortlessness…”

“Maestro Portnoy & Friends” takes place at the Koger Center for the Arts on Tuesday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Joining Maestro Portnoy and the University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra on the first half of the concert is Dr. Robert Jesselson, cello; Three Baritones, Jacob Will, Hal McIntosh and Marc Rattray; and soprano Diana Amos.

The second half of the evening presents Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra, composed by R.E.M.’s Mike Mills for violinist Robert McDuffie. Mike Mills, of two-decade rock powerhouse R.E.M., and Robert McDuffie, internationally renowned violinist, have been close friends since they were teenagers growing up in Macon, Georgia. The concerto, with orchestration and additional music by David Mallamud, features acclaimed violinist McDuffie; a four-member rock band led by composer Mills (performing on the bass and keyboard) with two electric guitarists and a drummer; and a string orchestra.