This season, the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program welcomed a new conductor to the YOP family. Starting this September, String Sinfonietta is now conducted by Christie-Jo Adams: former orchestra teacher, acclaimed arts administrator, and a 1989 graduate of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program.
Originally known as the Young Performer’s Program, YOP began as a partnership between the Richmond Symphony and Richmond Public Schools. At the age of nine, Adams—a Richmond native—enrolled in String Sinfonietta, which at the time, was one of just two ensembles in the Youth Orchestra Program. There, under the baton of former Sinfonietta conductor Joseph Wargo, Adams began her journey with the violin.
Adams continued in the Youth Orchestra Program throughout her time in grade school. After graduating from John Marshall High School, Adams attended Longwood University and earned a degree in music education. Then, Adams returned to Richmond Public Schools, where she taught orchestra at Binford Middle School for fourteen years, and for another seven at Brookland Middle School in Henrico County Public Schools.
Following her 21-year teaching career, Adams—following the tradition set by her father and sister, who were both school principals—began working in an administrative role within Henrico County Public Schools, where she served as aide to her school’s assistant principal. Administrative work quickly proved to be a good fit, and Adams returned to school to earn her Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Averett University, hoping to use her newfound skills to support the arts in the Richmond region.
“I realized at that point that maybe I didn’t want to be a principal, but I was going to look for some administrative work in the arts,” Adams explained. “Yes, it’s education, but I wanted the arts, the music, because that’s where my love landed—with the advocacy for the arts.”
Adams’ wish came true—soon, a new role opened in Richmond Public Schools as Coordinator of Arts Education, and she was selected to fill the position.
“I just look at is as kind of a gift from God,” Adams said. “It was perfect timing.”
Now twelve years into her new role, every new school year is just as fulfilling for Adams as her first. Her day-to-day work involves supporting arts teachers across Richmond—some days, she prepares special lectures for professional development workshops. On other days, she’s planning arts-themed field trips across the central Virginia region, including visits to the Richmond Symphony and other arts organizations. On occasion, Adams even finds herself back in the classroom, co-teaching to help arts educators teach particularly tricky subjects. It’s a busy job, but a fulfilling one, Adams says: “This is my dream job. It’s never been work for me.”
Adams’ role is unique in that she reaches a particularly large number of educators and students in Richmond. She supports educators who teach not just music, but also visual arts, dance, and theatre, at over 50 schools in the city. In turn, the district serves approximately 22 thousand students per year.
Whether the students of RPS study painting or piano, Adams hopes that her students will one day be both “great citizens and supporters of the arts. And if they choose to participate in the arts [as a career],” she adds, “then they’ve also been given a great foundation to be able to do so.”
In the midst of her busy 9-to-5, Adams found the time to impart these same lessons on the Youth Orchestra Program, serving as conductor of String Sinfonietta for twelve years.
“Every day it was fun,” Adams said. “The concerts were always a joy because I got to see their growth from beginning to end. Just being able to be a part of [the students’] educational musical journey was always something that I really, really appreciated.”
In the spring of 2022, Adams conducted what she thought was her last Sinfonietta concert, stepping away to focus on her busy role with Richmond Public Schools. Four years later, she’s thrilled to be back on the podium, working with a new generation of Sinfonietta students.
“[There’s] nothing like standing in front of students who are young [and] wanting to play a stringed instrument,” Adams said. “It’s watching them grow from some students coming in with a Suzuki bow hold and leaving with the perfect bow grip. … Some may have tape on their instruments for fingerings when they arrive and then … we can remove one or two of the tapes when their ears become more developed. … I think once they get into a group and an ensemble where others are learning too, that they can learn. The joy, for me, is just watching the growth of the students—not just in Sinfonietta, but [as they] move throughout the program.”
In her students, Adams sees potential for a lifelong love of music—and in many, she sees a reflection of herself as a young girl.
“There are many people who want to discourage and tell you that you cannot be successful in the arts, and that’s just not true. I was lucky enough to have a community and a family and people around me who encouraged me,” Adams said. “Listen to yourself. … Believe in yourself, do the work. … Do what you want to do and do it well.”
With a musical career spanning over thirty years, Adams is grateful for the impact she’s been able to make on her students.
“This is not [just] a job,” Adams said. “It becomes fun and engaging … and you have students who grow. You have teachers that grow. You help contribute to the music world, and there’s nothing greater than that.”
