New York’s Gateways Festival Orchestra Announces Spring Festival

Celebrating Black classical artistry, the festival will be held across Rochester and New York City from April 21–27, 2025

Founded in North Carolina in 1993 by pianist Armenta Hummings Dumisani, the Gateways Music Festival celebrates Black classical artistry and inspires communities through performance. The program was brought to New York in 1995 when Hummings Dumisani joined the Eastman School of Music faculty.

Now, around 125 musicians including players in top symphony orchestras, faculty from major music schools and conservatories, and freelance artists, participate in each festival.

In its new 2025 Spring Festival, the Gateways Festival Orchestra, which includes Black professional musicians from leading orchestras and music faculties, will perform back-to-back residencies before the finale concerts at Eastman’s Kodak Hall (April 24) and Carnegie Hall (April 27). 

These performances will mark the orchestra’s highly anticipated return to the venue since its historic and sold-out debut in 2022. 

Other festival performances include solo recitals by violinist Curtis Stewart (April 22 and 25) and pianist Rochelle Sennet (April 21 and 26). Additionally, the Gateways Brass Collective will give a concert on April 23. 

Players of the Festival Orchestra will also be offering masterclasses and mentorship to young performers at Gateways’ Spring 2025 Young Musicians Institute hosted by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. 

Additional program events will include talks and panel discussions with Dr. Louise Toppin, Dr. Wayne Barr, Dr. Yi Cheng, and more key scholars, on April 23 and 26. 

Notably, the Festival will present William Levi Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, led by Anthony Parnther. First heard at Carnegie Hall just days after its 1934 world premiere, the symphony is rooted in the spiritual tradition and shaped by Dawson’s travels in West Africa. 

The Festival will also see the world premiere of a new orchestral commission titled Reflections of Resilience: Five Spirituals from the NAACP Image Award- and Sphinx Medal of Excellence-winning musical polymath Damien Sneed, featuring the GRAMMY-winning opera singer J’Nai Bridges. 

“This song cycle for voice and orchestra incorporates the many styles (the spiritual, jazz, gospel, Afro-Latin rhythmic grooves, etc.) birthed from the confluence of European music and the vast development of African American cultural roots, from the record of the White Lion slave ship arriving in Point Comfort, VA to today and beyond,” Sneed explained. 

In association with the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, the Festival in Rochester will be held from April 21–24, and in New York City from April 24–27. 

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