McDuffie again set to address racial issues through music, drama

Violinist Robert McDuffie has performed all over the world, but the issues facing his hometown of Macon remain on his mind.

McDuffie, who performed and spoke at the Macon Rotary Club's Christmas party Monday, intends to address those issues with a performance in February. He said several thoughts about Macon have come to mind as he's been performing with actress Anna Deavere Smith in Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in recent months.

"One in particular, how Macon has made so much progress. There are people here who love their city," he said. "Like so many other cities, there's institutional racism."

To help address that problem, he and Smith performed "Letter from Birmingham Jail" production at Beulahland Baptist Church this past February. That performance entails a reading of King's famous letter, along with words from other civil rights leaders like John Lewis.

But this coming February, the dramatic part of the performance will be a play titled "What Color is Your Brother?" The work, written by Mark Mobley, involves multiple scenes depicting the actual words of Macon's leaders, including County Commissioner Elaine Lucas, Mayor Robert Reichert and Coroner Leon Jones.

"It's pretty powerful," McDuffie said. "What color is your brother?"

The various roles will be performed by young Macon actors accompanied by McDuffie and an orchestra, with the performance set for Feb. 27 at the Grand Opera House. McDuffie said Mobley made multiple visits to Macon to interview officials and hear Jones talk about the numerous homicides in Macon this year, particularly in the black community.

McDuffie said he wanted to perform in his hometown, but he wanted something other than his usual musical performance of composers such as Antonion Vivaldi, his selection for Monday's crowd of about 150 at Idle Hour Country Club.

"I just didn't want to do another concert of dead, white, European composers," he said of February's production.

Macon Rotary Club President Robbo Hatcher said McDuffie is an asset for Macon because of his willingness to use his stage as a performer for positive causes.

"I think it's fabulous that Robert, or Bobby, is a world-renowned artist that remembers his hometown to the world," Hatcher said.

The "beautiful potential" he sees in his hometown is the reason McDuffie is driven to help spearhead such a performance. He said he wants to see Macon be a leader in correcting issues of racism and crime instead of looking to emulate other cities' efforts.

"For them to look to us to see how we solve our problems," he said, "that would be a good way of thinking for Macon."

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter @MTJTimm.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 10:23 PM with the headline "McDuffie again set to address racial issues through music, drama ."