mcduffie was born into a musical family in macon, georgia, united states. both his mother, susan mcduffie, and his younger sister, margerie mcduffie, are pianists. he attended the juilliard school in new york city as a student of dorothy delay, spending his summers in her studio at the aspen music festival and school. he plays a guarneri del gesù violin made in 1735 named the "ladenburg" that he purchased for $3.5 million. he was nominated for a grammy in 1990 for his performance of concertos by leonard bernstein and william schuman. mcduffie is a co-founder and artistic director for the rome chamber music festival in rome, italy. he currently lives in new york city with his wife camille and two children, eliza and will.