106 maconmagazine.com | August/September 2026
Part two of our series examining 20 years of the
Robert McDuffie Center for Strings as it makes a splash in
Macon that ripples around the world
matters
M C D U F F I E
STORY BY MICHAEL W. PANNELL
I
n the last few of its 20 years, students
coming to the Robert McDuffie Center for
Strings at Mercer University may have known
that, with their studies, they would be part
of the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra
(MMSO), playing alongside world-renowned
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians under
the direction of some of the world's leading
conductors.
They may have known they might take part in
chamber music concerts with celebrated chamber
The Macon-Mercer
Symphony Orchestra
featuring McDuffie
student Benjamin Linton.
Photo by Jessica Gratigny
for Mercer University
