Amanda Gates, Music Director

Conductor, musician and teacher Amanda Gates joined the Virginia Symphony in 1996, and served as Assistant Concertmaster from 2002-2022. Since 2001, she spends her summers as a first violinist in the Chautauqua Symphony, where she also serves as Orchestra Manager.

A native of Reston, Virginia, she graduated summa cum laude from The Catholic University of America, where she studied with Robert Gerle. She appeared as soloist with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Catholic University Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Eastern Shore, and the Chautauqua Symphony Chamber Players.

In 2024, she earned a Master of Music Education in Orchestral Performance degree from Old Dominion University where she was a student of Dr. Paul Kim. She is currently a doctoral student in New York University's Ed. D. in Leadership & Innovation program.

Ms. Gates served as Executive Director of the Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia from 2013-2017. In 2020 she joined the Governor's School for the Arts as Chair of the Instrumental Music department, where she directs the GSA Symphony Orchestra, develops and implements the pre-conservatory curriculum, and supervises 85 Instrumental Music students and 34 faculty members. There, she has conducted multiple full symphonic programs, GSA's productions of Englebert Humperdinck's "Hansel & Gretel," and prepared the orchestra to perform "Cinderella" with acclaimed prodigy Alma Deutscher.

A versatile musician, Ms. Gates is proficient on many instruments and well versed in many styles. She was commissioned to compose, arrange and direct string arrangements for the punk band Emberghost's album, "Not Long for this Earth," released in 2012. She also composed original music for Royal Family's off-Broadway production of "Anne of Green Gables," which was performed with original choreography by Lorna Ventura.

She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the VSO and the Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia, and served as lead negotiator on contracts for both the Virginia and Chautauqua Symphonies.

Ms. Gates performs on a violin by Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, and a six-string fretted electric violin, "Viper" model, by Mark Wood. She enjoys listening to music of all genres, studying languages (particularly Spanish, Russian and Hungarian), reading, running, hiking, cooking, and spending time with family.