MACON – A Night of Georgia Music, a March 5 concert at Macon’s historic Grand Opera House featuring students from Mercer University’s Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, internationally renowned violin soloist and Macon native Robert McDuffie, former Allman Brothers Band member and current Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and R.E.M. founding member and Macon native Mike Mills will be recorded and distributed to public television stations across the country for airing later this year.
Tickets for the performance sold out in early January, but a limited number of general admission tickets for the March 4 dress rehearsal are available through The Grand’s box office at (478) 301-5470.
The production comes to Macon following a successful concert tour in 2019 that included sold-out performances in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta and Birmingham. Concerts in additional cities, including Macon, were planned until the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed live performances.
A Night of Georgia Music features songs of Georgia’s favorite contemporary artists set on a rock band, including Otis Redding, Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers Band, Gladys Knight and the Pips, James Brown, Outkast, Gram Parsons and Brook Benton. The concert also features the Mike Mills-composed Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra, conducted by Ward Stare.
“Presenting these iconic songs of Georgia with legends Mike Mills and Chuck Leavell is a high point of my professional life. Being on stage with them makes this classical violinist feel ‘cool.’ The music resonates in a visceral way for so many people,” notes McDuffie. “Playing at The Grand for a national television audience makes me proud to be from Macon, and I can’t wait to see you all there!”
The concert will be filmed and produced by multiple Emmy Award-winner 7 Cinematics, which has previously produced live concerts for PBS and other national networks, including The Avett Brothers at Red Rocks and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Great Pyramids. In addition to taping at The Grand, one segment for the show will be shot in the historic Capricorn Sound Studios, restored by Mercer in 2019.
