About Us
Our Director
Krissi Davis, orchestra director at Midtown High School in Atlanta Public Schools, is in her 18th year in education. She was the 2019-21 APS Teacher of the Year. She previously taught at the middle and high school levels in Clayton and Fayette County. She is currently a Doctoral candidate in Music Education at Georgia State University where her research interests center around Culturally Responsive Teaching in the string orchestra curriculum.
Orchestras under her direction consistently earn superior ratings at GMEA Large Group
Performance Evaluation and have presented performances at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony
Hall, and the 2018 American String Teachers Association National Orchestra Festival. Ms. Davis
has presented sessions at the 2018 and 2020 GMEA In-Service Conference and 2019 Midwest
Clinic. Most recently, she had an article published in the February 2021 issue of American String
Teacher. Ms. Davis is a member of the American String Teachers Association and Georgia Music
Educators Association. As a member of GMEA, she has served as an LGPE adjudicator, District V
Orchestra Chair, and beginning Fall 2023 will serve as GMEA State Orchestra Chair.
Our Orchestra
Midtown High School Orchestra comprises three orchestra classes: Concert is open to beginning students; Symphonic, the intermediate ensemble, is for students with some string experience; and Philharmonic, open by audition to experienced musicians who are ready to refine technique at higher levels.
Fun Fact
The first concert of the “In-and-About High School Atlanta Symphony” was presented at Midtown (aka Grady) High School (then Boys High) on February 9, 1939. With the support of the Atlanta Music Club, local businesses, and countless others, this regional youth orchestra grew over the years to become an all-professional ensemble: the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.