“One of the first things I thought when I realized that we would have to cancel our upcoming concerts was, ‘How are we going to keep the music playing?’” said Amanda “Mandy” Stringer, CEO of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. 

The answer was the “TSO At Home” virtual series. Curated by a different musician, board or staff member every week, audio files from past performances are shared in TSO’s email newsletter and on their website.

“While I strongly believe that there is absolutely no substitute for live music, I think the reason that ‘TSO At Home’ is resonating with so many people is because it takes them back to a place in time where a shared experience transported them,” says Stringer. “It is more meaningful to them than simply playing a CD or watching a YouTube video. It is personal for our patrons and reconnects us through a shared memory.”  

The instrumentation in George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings” trickles from a gentle stream into a steadily flowing river. Sounds swell and surge as the orchestra builds inside what Stringer calls a “haunting movement” in her description of the piece showcased in a recent week’s newsletter. “Lyric for Strings” was originally performed live on March 31, 2019 as part of TSO’s “Ode to Understanding” concert. 

The concert combined forces with The Village Square, The Florida A&M Concert Choir and the Morehouse College Glee Club to inspire discourse about human rights and community. Stringer chose to re-share the music given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the larger community’s consciousness. 

“It is a beautiful, contemplative work for string orchestra,” says Stringer. “[Walker] wrote it after his grandmother passed away, so for me right now it is poignant because you are thinking about the people in your life that are susceptible and vulnerable to this virus.” 

As she listens to the work, Stringer’s thoughts drift to her own parents. Her mother was a professional pianist and the driving force behind her early introduction to music. She would often sit underneath the family piano while her mother practiced, and eventually fell in love with the history, discipline and language associated with the instrument. 

“The piano can play harmonies as well as melodies,” says Stringer. “I love that it is like a mini-orchestra. It can make all sorts of different tone colors and sounds.” 

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