Macon Magazine

28 l MACON MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2013 Independent and Assisted Living Recuperative Care Limousine Transportation All Ground Level Apartments Turn down service Delicious Cuisine Social Programs Valet trash service Maintenance-Free Living 478-207-7172 5471 Thomaston Rd. www.johnwesleyvillas.com "Retirement Living at its Finest" John-Wesley Villas MM: And, Steve, you were able to find work really quickly in Macon. SM: There are a lot of great things happening here. I was able to produce music locally, stuff with the Gateway Initiative, "A Little More Soul." I produced that right here in Macon. MM: I know that you take on diverse projects both at home and on the road. SM: Yeah. Everything from classical to hip- hop. You have to be versatile if you're a percussionist, drummer. MM: Amy, your career is more centered in Macon, but you still travel frequently. ASM: Quite a bit, yes. Actually, it's starting to pick up even more. We have had kids for the past five years, and I have been really focused on my children, but now I'm having more opportunities -- chamber music wise -- to perform. I have a string quartet. I was just in Miami with them, and we're going to be performing together again this summer, and again in the fall, plus we're going to do a European tour in February of 2014. MM: And those musicians are based all over the county? ASM: Yes. They're all like me. We all have our careers happening, and then we get together to have fun, and we make a little money and travel too. And then I have the Cortona Trio with my colleagues here at Mercer (cellist Julie Albers and pianist Elizabeth Pridgen). So that's exciting. We see that as a wonderful opportunity for us to travel and perform and play wonderful music together, and spread the word about Mercer and Macon everywhere as we travel. I'm also doing some concertos with orchestras. And Steve and I also commissioned a piece from Matt Catingub that we previewed back in February at the Cox. It went over really well, which made us feel good. It's for violin, jazz trio and orchestra. So it's definitely something that I don't think has been done before. So, we're hoping that will get picked up by other orchestras. MM: It seems like you have to plan pretty far in advance in your line of work. SM: That's right. We have a gig with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra for the 2014-2015 season, so generally the schedules book about a year or two out. MM: And that's typical for both of you? SM: Yeah. Just because so many of the seasons book so far in advance. Which is a good thing because we know what our year is going to be like beforehand. ASM: Being a performer, that's exactly the model that what we want for our students at the center. The entire faculty at the McDuffie Center are performers out there playing. We want our students to know what's really happening out there. How the climate is changing -- the music industry -- and how orchestras are struggling in this day and age. But we both continue to have great success with our performing, and enjoy that, and we feel very lucky and blessed that we can do what we love. MM: (to Amy) Can you talk about the evolution of the McDuffie Center for Strings?

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