Tim MacDuff picked up the viola guided by the teachers in his public school music program where he grew up in upstate New York. After being exposed to the string quartets of Johannes Brahms and Antonin Dvorak at New England Music Camp in Maine, he decided to become a professional musician.

Early chamber music experiences include attending the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont and performing with Loon Lake Live: an intimate chamber music series in upstate New York. At the University of Maryland, he and other graduate students formed the Anacostia String Quartet which served as the ensemble in residence of the District New Music Coalition in 2018. In octet form, he has collaborated with the award-winning Omer Quartet and performed on the Washington Performing Arts Series with the Left Bank Quartet. Through the National Orchestral Institute, he worked with the Adelphi Quartet on community engagement projects in schools and retirement communities in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 2019, Tim joined the Quapaw Quartet of the Arkansas Symphony.

Orchestral experiences include playing in summer festival orchestras such as the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, and the Texas Festival Orchestra at Round Top. In 2018, Tim was a finalist and substitute musician with the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida. He was also an active substitute musician in the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Maryland and the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in Virginia. The winner of two concerto competitions, Tim is also comfortable as a soloist and has performed concertos by Cecil Forsyth and Ernest Bloch. As a teacher, he enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities. At the college level, he has served as a teaching assistant responsible for instructing undergraduate lessons and an orchestral excerpts course. While living in Maryland, he maintained a studio of 30 violin and viola students of which many received music scholarships, entered youth orchestras, and earned grades of distinction at Solo and Ensemble Festival.

Tim received his Bachelor of Music degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and his Master’s degree from Rice University. He completed his Doctoral studies at the University of Maryland. His mentors and major teachers are Shelly Tramposh, James Dunham, and Katherine Murdock.