By Susan B. Steen
The Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra is made up of talented musicians from many areas of life and many areas of the world. The musicians love playing and are dedicated to spending numerous hours practicing to ensure performances to delight the listener. Always remembering that their job is to translate the literature into a language the rest of us can understand, many of the musicians have remained committed to this orchestra for a very long time.
From the time Laurence Harvin developed the group into a true professional symphony orchestra, Greg Lawson has been playing his clarinet with MSO. Having studied music at Middle Tennessee State University and then graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with a masters in performance clarinet, joining Dr. Harvin was an easy decision. Mr. Lawson was formerly Band Director with the awarding winning Oakland High School Band in Murfreesboro and McGavock High School Band in Nashville. Under his direction, McGavock Band was named the Tennessee State Marching Champion and won several local and region competitions. In 2003, while at Oakland High he was named by the School Band and Orchestra Board of Directors as the state of Tennessee’s representative as one of the “50 Directors Who Make a Difference.” Playing the clarinet is a passion of Greg’s, and we are thankful for the talent and commitment he brings to our stage. Teaching music in elementary schools today, Greg’s commitment to educating, inspiring, and entertaining is easy to see. Our longest standing male musician, Greg Lawson is an integral part of Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra.
Susan Mullen joined Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra in 1991, just after moving to Murfreesboro. Susan is the Director of Strings at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, TN. She is an active violinist, violist, conductor and clinician for honor orchestras and summer festivals. She serves on the conducting staff at the Festivo de la Musica del Pacifico in Cobano, Costa Rica as well as the Tennessee Valley Music Festival in Huntsville, Alabama. Ms. Mullen is the Assistant Concertmaster of the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra and an active free-lance musician throughout the region. She was the co-founder, Music Director, and Conductor of the Murfreesboro Youth Orchestra for 11 years. She earned her Master of Music Performance from the University of Wyoming, continuing her studies in Neuchatel, Switzerland as a Rotary International Scholar. Susan is an Orchestra Representative for the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association, President-Elect of the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teacher’s Association, a member of the Editorial Board for the Tennessee Musician and a member of the National Association for Music Education. Susan Mullen is our longest-standing female musician.
Greg and Susan are examples of the talented members of the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra. It is evident that both of these individuals value music education for adults and children, and that is a mirror of the values of Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra.