String Festival

Amy Schwartz Mortetti, violin

With a distinguished career of broad versatility, violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti is equally accomplished as chamber musician, concertmaster, soloist, and educator. Recognized as a deeply expressive artist, she appears as soloist and chamber music artist at music festivals and concert series internationally. She is a member of the Ehnes Quartet, touring and recording with violinist James Ehnes, violist Che-Yen Chen, and cellist Edward Arron. In 2007, she became the inaugural Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Georgia, leading their new string program for gifted young artists within the School of Music supported by full-tuition scholarships.  Since then, together with founder Robert McDuffie, she has developed and guided this unique program.  She has established and expanded the Fabian Concert Series bringing esteemed artists to campus for performances and classes.  

As professor and Director of the McDuffie Center at Mercer University, she is honored to hold the Caroline Paul King Chair in Strings and teach the violinists of the Center. Before joining Mercer University, Amy was concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony in Portland. Her professional career began as concertmaster of The Florida Orchestra in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. She has served as guest concertmaster for the Atlanta, Houston, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras, The New York Pops and Hawaii Pops, and the festival orchestras of Brevard, Colorado, Grant Park and Grand Teton. 

She has received multiple Juno awards for her recordings with James Ehnes and has also recorded for Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Onyx Classics, CBC Records, BCMF/Naxos and Sono Luminus. Recent projects include the 2024 recording of a concerto written for her by composer Christopher Schmitz, and the filming of the documentary, “Chaos Becomes Order,” illuminating the process of the concerto's collaboration with the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Stefan Sanderling. 

The Cleveland Institute of Music has recognized her with an Alumni Achievement Award and she is the 2014 San Francisco Conservatory of Music Fanfare Honoree. In 2018, Moretti was selected as one of Musical America’s “Top 30 Professionals of the Year, and in 2022, she received the Macon Arts Alliance Cultural Award, given to individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the cultural life of Central Georgia. Amy lives in Georgia with her husband and two sons. She performs on her treasured Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin made in Paris in 1874.

Julia Bullard, viola

Violist Julia Bullard enjoys a diverse career as a performer, pedagogue, Alexander Technique teacher, and academic leader. She is the violist of Trio 826, whose first album, Mosaic, was released on the Blue Griffin label in 2016. She has performed as a guest with ensembles including the Bogotá Chamber Orchestra; UCS Orquestra - Caxias do Sul, Brazil; the Arianna String Quartet; and the Maia Quartet. A dedicated pedagogue, Dr. Bullard served as president of the Iowa String Teachers Association (ISTA) and received ISTA's Leopold LaFosse Studio Teacher of the Year award in 2011. She has presented guest artist recitals and master classes across the US and abroad at institutions including University of Southern Mississippi, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Ball State University, University of Iowa, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lawrence University, the State University of New York at Fredonia, the National University of Colombia, and Universidad Federal Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil. She has performed and taught at summer festivals including Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival, Wintergreen Music Festival and Academy, Madeline Island Music Festival, and Les Musicales au Fival (France).  

Dr. Bullard received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia, and the DMA degree from the University of Georgia. Her principal teachers included violists Joseph dePasquale, Emanuel Vardi, Sidney Curtiss, and Mark Cedel, and violinist Levon Ambartsumian. She completed her Alexander Technique teacher certification at the Minnesota Center for the Alexander Technique, and was recently elected to the board of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). 

From 2000-2022, Dr. Bullard served as viola professor at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), and for 10 years was the Associate Director for Graduate Studies in the UNI School of Music. In August 2022, Dr. Bullard joined the faculty of Kennesaw State University (GA), teaching viola and Alexander Technique and serving in leadership roles as Assistant Director and Interim Director of the Bailey School of Music. She currently serves as Director of the School of Music at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.

Austin Huntington, cello

Austin Huntington was appointed principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2015 at the age of 20, making him one of the youngest principal musicians in a major American orchestra. He was recently the runner-up for the San Francisco Symphony's principal cello position in March 2022 and a finalist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's principal cello position in March 2018, as well as the winner of the Utah Symphony’s principal cello position in May 2023. He has been featured as guest principal cello with the San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. During the summer, Austin serves as principal cellist for the Mainly Mozart Festival and Colorado Music Festival Orchestras.

Austin is a former first prize winner of the Stulberg and Irving M. Klein international string competitions and is a top prize winner of the Schadt national cello competition. He has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, Marin Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, Santa Cruz Symphony, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and the Salomon Chamber Orchestra. 

As an avid chamber musician, Austin has also enjoyed a diverse of collaborations across many genres, including with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Augustin Hadelich, Edgar Meyer, The Eagles, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Augustana. He was previously a faculty member at Indiana University and the University of Indianapolis, as well as Chair of the Indianapolis Suzuki Academy's Board of Directors.

Austin holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Eric Kim respectively. His previous teachers include Richard Hirschl, Brinton Smith, Richard Aaron, Hans Jensen, Paul Katz, and David Finckel.

Mark Urness, double bass

Mark Urness is a versatile bassist, composer, and educator. His diverse performance experience encompasses orchestral, chamber, solo, jazz playing.  He is an associate professor of music at Lawrence University in Appleton Wisconsin and the principal bassist of the Weidner Center Philharmonic Orchestra. His playing on the unaccompanied jazz album, Foreground, was described by Bass World magazine as “completely in command of the instrument and the tunes, rife with good ideas, melodic instinct, and groove.”  Recent performances include chamber music broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio, Concerto performances as guest soloist with the Fox Valley Youth Orchestra, a Solo Recital at the 2018 ISB convention, and jazz performances with Bill Carrothers, Danilo Perez, Peter Erskine, and Joe Locke.

Prior to his appointment to the faculty of Lawrence University, Mr. Urness taught at the University of Iowa, Coe College, and the University of Northern Iowa and was principal bassist of the Cedar Rapids Symphony. In 1999 he was awarded first prize in the ISB Jazz Bass competition. He received a Master of Music in double bass performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Northern Iowa, and studied music and computer science at the University of Iowa.