Valdosta State University is doing some serious name-dropping this week. On Wednesday and Thursday, Valdosta State University English Department hosts well-known historian Douglas Brinkley. VSU’s Jeff Vasseur and Mark Smith made this visit happen.
Brinkley is the author of numerous history books, including his latest “The Wilderness Warrior,” which he is expected to discuss during his visit. “The Wilderness Warrior” details the outdoor and conservationist life of Theodore Roosevelt as an individual and as President of the United States.
Winner of numerous awards and placement on The New York Times bestseller lists, Brinkley is regularly seen on television news shows as a presidential expert. He most recently worked as a commentator on the historic impact of the presidential State of the Union speech.
Later this week, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra hosts violin virtuoso Robert McDuffie. With the orchestra, McDuffie will perform Tchaikovsky’s challenging Violin Concerto, but he’s spent most of his recent time preparing for a tour of performing composer Philip Glass’ “Concerto for Violin No. 2, The American Four Seasons.”
An acclaimed and even Oscar-nominated composer, Glass composed this concerto specifically for the internationally known McDuffie.
Valdosta Symphony Orchestra conductor Howard Hsu met McDuffie a decade ago in New York City. They developed a friendship. This friendship coupled with McDuffie being a Macon native, whose name is given to Mercer University’s Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, helped bring him to Valdosta for this weekend’s performance.
Within its own faculty and student body, VSU has several talented individuals willing to share their gifts with Valdosta-Lowndes County. It’s good that VSU’s talented individuals also have a talent for attracting prestigious names to the region.
