After serving for many years as Associate Music Director/Director of TYO chamber Orchestra, Christopher Miller has been appointed Music Director/ Director of TYO Symphony.      In addition to his work with Tallahassee Youth Orchestras, Mr. Miller is known as Director of Orchestras at Lawton Chiles High School, where he directs three orchestras in addition to teaching A.P. Music Theory, Advanced Guitar, and Theatre.  Under his direction, orchestras from Chiles have placed 1st (click to read more)

Katarzyna (Kasia) Bugaj is an Associate Professor of Music Education at The Florida State University, where she helps prepare future music educators to work with orchestras and string students. In addition to teaching college students during the academic year Dr. Bugaj enjoys working with young musicians at the FSU Summer Music Camps. Prior to her appointment at Florida State University, Dr. Bugaj was

Violist, violinist, conductor, and educator Ashley Hagadorn-Brien was born and raised in South Florida and moved to Tallahassee over 10 years ago.

Dr. Alexander Jiménez serves as Professor of Conducting, Director of Orchestral Activities, and String Area Coordinator at the Florida State University College of Music. He has served on the faculties of San Francisco State University and Palm Beach Atlanta University. He holds degrees from Baylor University (B.M.) and Florida State University (M.M., M.M.E., D.M.). Dr. Jiménez is an active guest conductor, teacher and adjudicator through the United States and Europe.

American violinist Hannah Ruth MacLean is an avid performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral music and has given performances across the United States and Canada. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Music in Violin Performance at Florida State University, where she is a graduate teaching assistant to Dr. Shannon Thomas. As a devoted chamber musician, Ms. MacLean is a founding member of the Cheng-MacLean duo and has performed with esteemed musicians such as...

A native of West Virginia, Dr. Taylor Giorgio is recognized as an imaginative performer and teacher. An active orchestral musician, she is a contracted violinist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, and the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. Taylor currently maintains a private violin studio in Tallahassee, where her students have received honors at the regional and state level. She recently completed her doctoral studies in Violin Performance at...

A native Texan, Dr. Allyson Royal began her viola studies within the Mesquite ISD public school system at twelve years old. She decided to further pursue her studies in viola and began taking private lessons for the first time at the ripe age of seventeen, which is considerably late in the string world. But within a few months, she was able to prepare for college auditions and have success. Dr. Royal completed her Bachelor of Music (Education) from...

Shelby Morris is a graduate of FSU and earned her Bachelor of Music Education in the Spring of 2021. As a native of Tallahassee, she graduated from Raa middle school, Leon high school, and was once principal cellist in TYO herself in the 2015-2016 season. She has played with professional symphonies in Florida and Georgia but says her true passion lies in spreading the love of cello with her students. She is ecstatic to return to her TYO family for a third year!

A charismatic and versatile clarinetist, KATSUYA YUASA has been praised by critics as a “born performer with rare ability to express the beauty and soulfulness of the composer’s music” – and have toured in the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia as a concert soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Born in Kobe, Japan, he is...

Paul Ebbers was on the faculty of FSU for 38 years. Mr. Ebbers studied with Arnold Jacobs, world renowned wind pedagogue. He earned a B.A. from the Univ. of No. Iowa, a M.M. from Northwestern Univ, and pursued doctoral study at Indiana Univ. Mr. Ebbers has performed with the St. Louis Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Chicago Civic Orchestra, and Florida Philharmonic. He has toured the U.S., Italy, and Germany performing in such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.

Connor Willits is a Junior at Florida State University, majoring in Percussion Performance. At FSU, he has been a member of several ensembles, including the University Philharmonia Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Percussion Ensemble, New Music Ensemble, and the “Mas ‘n Steel” Steel Pan Ensemble. As an undergraduate student, he has participated in the FMEA All-State Intercollegiate Band, debuted new compositions for chamber percussion at the FSU College of Music...

José is a Masters Student in Jazz Performance for FSU’s College of Music, He is an FSU Alumni graduating in 2019 with his bachelors in Music for Jazz Performance. He has been playing Upright Bass for over 15 years and has been teaching music for more than 5 years. José was raised in Venezuela where...

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Lee Taylor enjoys a varied musical career involving performance, education, and administration. Lee is currently a member of the Atlanta Ballet and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras and is a founding member of Amati Chamber Music. She was a long-time member of the Atlanta Opera Orchestra and has played with the Alabama Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Colorado Music Festival. As a private teacher, Lee...

Mira Gaitanis was born in raised right here in Tallahassee Florida. She started violin lessons in first grade at Mason’s School of Music and continued grow in her musical studies from there. She has been a long time member, and now alumna of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra, and she also took Orchestra as an elective in middle and high school. But she really began to bloom when she began to move outside the box of classical music. In the Acoustic Ensemble and Fiddlers, she was exposed to...

Thum Rangsiyawaranon is an alumnus of TYO. He is currently a Junior at Florida State University majoring in Classical Trumpet and Information Technology. While at FSU he has performed with multiple ensembles such as the Wind Ensemble, University Philharmonia, University Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Trumpet Ensemble, and Marching Chiefs.

Levi Vickers is a TYO alumnus who graduated from Florida State University School. He is a sophomore majoring in Brass Performance at the University of South Florida.

Marina Edwards is an alumna of Tallahassee Youth Orchestras. She started playing cello at 11 years old and has played in every ensemble that TYO had from Fundamentals to the TYO Symphony Orchestra. Marina is currently dual enrolled at both North Florida College for Criminology and Florida State University for the University Philharmonia Orchestra.