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"letter" A Word from the Dean Mercer University Townsend School of Music | music.mercer.edu Welcome to the 2022 – 2023 Discover Townsend concert performances at Mercer University. I am Dr. Gary Gerber, and I am excited to serve as the new dean of the Townsend School of Music. As I begin in this role, I know I share with you our love and appreciation for Dr. C. David Keith, who retired in June 2022. Dr. Keith has been a great inspiration for the Townsend School of Music and a strong proponent of this outstanding concert series each year. We are grateful for his years of service to the School of Music, Mercer University and the advancement of the arts. This year will feature an abundance of talent performing in the McCorkle Music Building's intimate Neva Langley Fickling Hall, the stunning Bell House Jennings Salon and the recently renovated historic Grand Opera House. It is a year filled with outstanding guest and faculty recitalists, large and chamber ensemble concerts, and distinguished lectures and symposia. The Fabian Concert Series will feature renowned guest artists curated by Amy Schwartz Moretti, director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings in a variety of concerts held in Fickling Hall. The Jubilee Artists Series will include the critically acclaimed vocal ensemble The King's Singers, nationally recognized saxophonist Branford Marsalis, "Curtis on Tour" with Eric Owens and Metropolitan Opera sensation Reginald Smith, Jr. The Townsend Symposia on Music, Philosophy and the Arts will host author, humorist and inspirational speaker Terry Hershey, as well as David Mallette, president of Management Consultant for the Arts. The 2022 – 2023 concert season will also feature the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra. Last year, the Symphony experienced a tremendous first season, and this year is scheduled to be just as exciting. The orchestra is composed of students from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings with winds and brass players from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Repertoire will include standard pieces by essential classical composers, as well as works by a wide range of contemporary composers from diverse backgrounds, reflecting the true breadth and depth of symphonic music today. I encourage you to consider making music a part of your life this year by attending programs sponsored by the Townsend School of Music. You will be inspired, moved and fulfilled in your quest for musical enjoyment and entertainment. Plato reminded us that "Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places." Discover Townsend is an essential way for you to find your rhythm and harmony in your life. Gary Gerber, Dean Townsend School of Music