admittedly is not a classical music aficionado. "I like
music, but I'm not a music person. But I still love the
symphony. I love that they're reaching out to a wider
audience than just the symphony crowd, that it's free
for young people and affordable for everyone. And I
love that you don't have to go to Atlanta or New York
to enjoy it."
The MMSO is a hybrid orchestra made up of
McDuffie students and principal players of the
Atlanta Symphony that performs four grand concerts
at The Piedmont Grand Opera House during a
September-to-April season. Fabian Concerts are
smaller, more intimate chamber music performances
that bring the world's leading musicians to Macon
and include select McDuffie students. Season tickets
for the MMSO start at just under $100 — less than
the cost of dinner and parking in Atlanta or other
large cities these days. Tickets for Fabian Concert
Series, previously led by violinist and former Center
director Amy Schwartz Moretti, are $23 for a single
concert and often sell out.
Julia Morrison is executive director of The Grand
and has a wider view of both the MMSO and
Fabian — and of the success and impact they have.
Morrison says the MMSO has increased subscribers
every year for the first five seasons.
108 maconmagazine.com | August/September 2026
ABOVE From
left, leading
the McDuffie
Center is Patty
Crowe, Emily
Brandenburg,
and Melissa
Klein. Photo by
DSTO Moore.
