Staff & Board of Directors

Dr. Amanda (Mandy) Stringer has been CEO of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra since 2010. Her achievements include growing the budget 170%, increasing both corporate sponsorships and annual fund donations 200%; widening the TSO’s subscriber base; increasing federal and regional funding through new grants; and instituting many new initiatives and programs. Dr. Stringer is actively engaged in the industry’s association of orchestras, the League of American Orchestras (LAO), and currently serves as Vice-Chair of her constituent group.

In 2016, Mandy was chosen to participate in the LAO’s “Emerging Leaders Program,” a highly competitive program where participants are chosen based on their potential to make significant contributions to their orchestras and to the field as a whole. She is also a graduate of the LAO’s prestigious “Essentials of Orchestra Management” program.

Mandy has been on the music faculties of the University of Oklahoma and Florida State University, and has been involved in the Tallahassee community through managing the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music, acting as a Knight Foundation Creative Communities Institute Catalyst, participating in the Leadership Tallahassee program, membership in the Florida Economic Club, serving on the Leon High School Foundation Board of Trustees, acting as the Leon High Lacrosse Boosters’ Treasurer, and sitting on the Leon County Tourist Development Council.

Mary Kelsay served as TSO’s General Manager from December, 2016 to June, 2022. During this time, she managed TSO subscriptions, planned several concerts and donor appreciation events and put forth a new program called TSO Kids, an umbrella brand and fundraising initiative that includes all of TSO’s children and family programming and activities.

Before coming to the TSO, she worked at the FSU School of Dance, taught music theory, piano and voice. She continues to be musically involved in the community as a vocalist. Mary is thrilled to have been selected for Leadership Tallahassee this year and is a proud member of the LT 40 class.

In her new role at the TSO as Director of Marketing and Development, Mary works to raise the visibility of the TSO, grow our amazing audience, and further the community’s access to the orchestra. She also manages the TSO’s Internship Program, working closely with graduate students from the Arts Administration masters program at the FSU College of Music. Above all, her goal is to engage, enrich, and inspire people at all stages of life through great music.

Katie Conway is an arts administrator and musician who loves to create opportunities for communities to explore classical music. A life-long musician, Katie received a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Georgia State University in 2017. After building her own flute studio and performing in the Atlanta area, Katie’s decision to further her education brought her to Tallahassee. She obtained a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from the Florida State University College of Music and worked with the TSO for two years as an intern. Upon graduation, she served as Assistant Production Manager for the Sarasota Orchestra. Katie is thrilled to return to the TSO for the 2022-23 season!

This is Melissa Brewer’s 30th season with the Tallahassee Symphony. She joined the orchestra in 1992 after winning the position of Assistant Principal Viola. She first took over the position of Personnel Manager in 1994 as a one-year replacement but was asked to stay in that position after the previous manager enjoyed not having the headaches. Operations Manager was added several years ago to her title to reflect the duties she was already doing. These include coordinating off-campus performances, working with our sound engineers for setup, and sometimes driving the 26’ Ryder truck.

She began her professional studies in violin & viola at the University of Miami, studying with George Zazofsky & Victor Stern and with David Becker at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She attended Oberlin's Baroque Performance Institute where she studied with Julie Andrijeski and Jane Starkman.

She has performed with artists as varied as Perlman, Sinatra, Billy Dean, and baroque dancer Paige Whitley-Baugess. On period instruments, she has performed and recorded with Conspirare in Austin, TX as well as with the Victoria Bach Festival, Baroque Southeast, the Apollo Ensemble, and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.

She feels very fortunate to have 3 beautiful instruments to perform on. Her modern viola is French made in the 1820s by E. Perrin, and her baroque viola is English made in 1760 by Locky Hill. Her viola d’amore is Italian and was made in 1930 made by G. Tadesco.

Since Melissa and her husband Charles Brewer purchased a 1940 bungalow in “Old Town” she has discovered a talent and love for demo!

North Carolina native Jessica Epps is TSO’s self-taught graphic designer who believes in the power of striking imagery. She earned her BM from Appalachian State and MM from Florida State in flute performance and began interning with the TSO in 2010 as a graduate student in FSU’s Arts Administration program.

Upon earning her MA in 2011, she began working for TSO remotely from New York City. Simultaneously, she worked for eight years in various roles in the marketing department at The Juilliard School. She now resides in Brooklyn, NY and works in social media for a Caribbean medical school, continuing her passion for working in higher education.