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54 maconmagazine.com | April/May 2026 54 maconmagazine.com | April/May 2026 A Word from the Dean Learn more by visiting Music.Mercer.edu Welcome to the 2026-2027 Discover Townsend concert season at Mercer University. I am proud and excited to share the programs planned for this upcoming year with you. The Townsend School of Music has a strong reputation for providing outstanding guest and faculty recitals, large and chamber ensemble concerts, and distinguished lectures and symposia. This year the school will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of McCorkle Music Building with the Faculty Gala Concert in the exquisite Neva Langley Fickling Hall. Other performances will take place in the intimate Bell House Jennings Salon, the spectacular Piedmont Grand Opera House, the newly acquired Robins Financial Capital Theatre, and Mercer Music at Capricorn. The Jubilee Artists Series will include the critically acclaimed British vocal ensemble The Swingles, internationally recognized wind quintet WindSync, British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano sensation Susan Platts, and the dazzling piano duo The Happy Dog Duo. The Fabian Concert Series will feature students from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings in collaboration with distinguished artists in a variety of concerts held in Fickling Hall. The Townsend Symposia on Music, Philosophy, and the Arts will host Peter Shannon, Irish orchestral conductor and leading proponent for music and healing, for a weeklong residency and symposium. David Kim, concertmaster for the Philadelphia Orchestra, will also give a lecture titled "From Prodigy to Professional – A Life in Music." The 2026-2027 concert season will feature four performances of the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra, with a memorable presentation of Beethoven's 9th Symphony featuring Mercer Singers. The Townsend School of Music students and faculty continue to present a variety of concerts from the Wind Ensemble, Mercer Singers, and Opera productions to smaller chamber groups of the Jazz Ensemble, Flute Choir, Brass Band, and Harp Ensemble. The Joan Stockstill Godsey Concert Series continues with BeautyFull Collaboration, BeautyFull Reconnection, and Collaboration highlighting the keyboard area students. The quality and reputation of Mercer's Townsend School of Music is reaching audiences from Georgia to Carnegie Hall and around the world. Join us for an exciting year of musical experiences which will inspire, enrich, and bring joy to your life. Gary G. Gerber, Dean Townsend School of Music You'll see this icon in the brochure for any 25th Anniversary events.