Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra returns Monday to Grand Opera House

The second performance of the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra is Monday at the Grand Opera House.

Made of students from Mercer University’s McDuffie Center for Strings and members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the unique symphony is not just a boon to listening ears and cultural landscape but is a means for students to gain musical expertise and practical mentoring in a real symphony setting.

Ticketing and information are at mcduffie.mercer.edu/symphony.

The McDuffie Center’s director, Amy Schwartz Moretti, has said, “This isn’t just an attempt to provide great music for local audiences but primarily a tremendous learning experience for our students.”

Concert-goers at October’s performance said they were enthralled by the orchestra and added dimension of incorporating community talent.

In October, that was Otis Redding Foundation music camp participants and this month is the Beulahland Gospel Choir amidst the program of Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

But a world away, another musical opportunity has drawn a handful of McDuffie students from their MMSO spots: the chance to participate at the Rome (Italy) Chamber Music Festival. Their local seats will be left in the good hands of McDuffie Center alumni.

There’s a dynamic connection between the Macon students and the Rome festival. The center for strings’ founder, namesake and driving force is Macon native Robert McDuffie who Arts Atlanta has called “… one of the true international celebrities in classical music today.”

McDuffie also founded the Rome Chamber Music Festival.

The MMSO concert is Nov. 22 and this year, the Rome festival is Nov. 21-25 – moved from its regular June date due to COVID.

“I’m sad I won’t be there for the concert,” McDuffie, said in an interview at his Bell House studio, College Street home of the center. Based in New York, McDuffie comes to Macon on center business and to teach.

McDuffie will miss the concert, but not entirely.

“I’ll be up late watching it live-stream from Rome,” he said.

The festival will be in the Auditorium Conciliazione in Vatican City, on the street with St. Peter’s Basilica. There, as at The Grand, masks will be required and COVID protocols followed.

An anticipated Rome event, the festival was begun by McDuffie in 2003 with help from the American Academy. It fills auditoriums and is endorsed by U.S., Italian and Holy See embassies as well the City of Rome and Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

McDuffie himself was awarded the prestigious Premio Simpatia by the mayor of Rome in recognition of his contribution to the city’s cultural life.

McDuffie said translated, it roughly means “the good guy award.”

“I was a typical American who fell in love with Rome,” he said. “I made my musical debut there in 1992 playing Mendelssohn. Later, I lived and moved my family there for a season as part of the American Academy, which is not a school but an artist colony.”

McDuffie said the festival originally featured high-level international professionals only but has shifted to young musicians. Typically, 10 come from the center and a dozen or more students come from international locales. They play with a select number of international professionals.

The musical selection reflects McDuffie’s ideals that music should be diverse in what is played and who plays it. In that vein, this year features music from Beethoven, Bernstein and from outrageous musical and cultural figure, Frank Zappa. McDuffie said a former festival alumni gained the rights to arrange Zappa’s music.

Furthering the truth of McDuffie’s commitment to new music, he also invited Macon’s rising rap star, Bob Lennon, to perform. Lennon will also be featured in a future MMSO concert.

“I’m proud of our students, faculty, Amy, the Atlanta Symphony, the Peyton Anderson Foundation, our Mercer leadership and so many others who are making the hybrid symphony happen,” McDuffie said. “I’m proud of our community for its support. And I was proud for my mother’s sake. She was president of the former Macon Symphony Orchestra back in the day and still active teaching 10 piano students.”

In March of next year, McDuffie will appear here with fellow Macon native and REM co-founder Mike Mills along with Chuck Leavell, pianist-keyboardist for the Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones and others. They will perform a selection of Georgia music including Mills’ Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra.

“Mike and I have known each other since we were kids,” McDuffie said. “We sang in the choir at First Presbyterian together, were part of the music club and on Sunday nights his family would come over after church and he and I would watch TV, talk about sports and listen to music — just hang out.

“My mother was organist at First Pres and my musical DNA is church music, southern rock and roll and central European quasi-gypsy music. My violin teacher here was Hungarian. He taught me how to find my soul when I play. I say when I left First Presbyterian Day School for New York to attend Julliard Pre-College then The Julliard School, they had to teach me how to count — but I knew how to find my soul.”

Continuing his accolade-winning career, McDuffie is glad to help new generations find their soul, achieve musical excellence and make their way in the changing music world.

“We’re the only conservatory-level center I know of that that has a hybrid symphony and, very importantly, offers electives in business and entrepreneurship. I’d like to see students not only have auditions and enter great orchestras but also be prepared to be president of those orchestras. I believe the future of music and of classical music lies in the hands of musicians.”

Mercer’s Townsend School of Music, of which the McDuffie Center is an institute, is fertile ground for all manner of music and students and offers a dazzling selection of low-cost or free musical experiences to the community.

Just check their calendar at music.mercer.edu/calendar. Last week, McDuffie students performed at the Bell House as they often do. The MMSO is Monday. The Fabian Center for Musical Excellence brings great performers to Macon and will host the renowned Canadian Brass Dec. 1. Prior to that, Nov. 30, the Fabian Center will feature Jane Chu, former Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, speaking on the arts and leadership.

Then there are student and guest choral, instrumental and other offerings for the holidays.

“It’s crazy there’s so much going on,” said C. David Keith, dean of the Townsend School.

Keith has a wide view of the school’s many parts and what they mean.

“Bobby (McDuffie) is a great thinker who puts feet to dreams,” he said. “Amy has done a fantastic job quickly bringing the undergrad program to premier status. And students there maintain high grade-point averages. The Macon-Mercer Symphony provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity and the Rome festival offers the chance to play with other students and professionals internationally to get a bigger view of their music. Of course, it puts a great light on Mercer and Macon, too.”

Contact Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.