World-renowned violinist Robert McDuffie performed for the Macon-Bibb County Council of Clergy on Tuesday, February 3, to promote the upcoming performance of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and to invite them and their congregations to attend. The luncheon and performance will be held in the 11th floor conference room in the Macon-Bibb County Government Center Annex (682 Cherry Street).
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” will be performed at Beulahland Baptist Church (1010 Newburg Avenue) on February 21 and will feature Ms. Smith, accompanied by McDuffie, reading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s April 1963 letter. Smith will also portray other important figures from the Civil Rights movement. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the program starting at 7:30 p.m. The performance is part of the grand opening festivities of the Bell House, new home of Mercer University’s McDuffie Center for Strings.
The performance on February 21 will be free and open to the public, but is a ticketed event. A limited number of tickets are available at The Grand Opera House Box Office, 651 Mulberry Street. Tickets must be picked up in person Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., first-come, first-served, no reservations.
Begun after the consolidation of Macon-Bibb County, the Council of Clergy meets every month to hear about work in the new government, identify ways in which the faith based community can work together and with the government, and express concerns from their communities directly to the Commission.
“It will take more than the consolidated government to unify our community; we need to our faith-based community to be engaged and actively working together to improve all neighborhoods,” says Macon-Bibb Mayor Robert Reichert. “
About The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings
The Robert McDuffie Center for Strings is a highly selective program that prepares string students for success in the real world. Students study with some of the nation’s renowned string musicians, receiving music instruction of conservatory quality, while earning an academically well-rounded education from a comprehensive, nationally recognized university. The Center is a special institute within Mercer’s Townsend School of Music on the Macon campus. Total enrollment is limited to 26 students: 11 violinists, six violists, six cellists and three double bassists. Every student has direct access to each distinguished artist during their regular monthly visits on campus, and will participate in private lessons, master classes, chamber music coaching sessions, and orchestral sectional work.
About Townsend School of Music
Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings and the Townsend-McAfee Institute for Graduate Studies offer undergraduate and graduate professional music studies in a comprehensive university environment. Townsend is nationally recognized for its outstanding faculty, award-winning students, performance ensembles and state-of-the-art facilities. The McDuffie Center, a special institute within Townsend School of Music, is a highly selective program that prepares string students for success in the real world. Students study with some of America’s most renowned string musicians, receiving music instruction of conservatory quality, while earning an academically well-rounded education from a comprehensive, nationally recognized university. For more information and a complete listing of this season’s concerts please visit www.mercer.edu/music, or call (478) 301-2748.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,500 students in 12 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing, health professions, and Penfield College of Mercer University – on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah – and four regional academic centers across the state. The Mercer Health Sciences Center includes the University’s medical, nursing, health professions and pharmacy schools. Mercer is affiliated with four teaching hospitals – Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah; Medical Center, Navicent Health, in Macon; and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The University also has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. It operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu