Oct 17–22: Gateways Music Festival Launches 30th Anniversary Season with Events at Carnegie Hall, Met Museum, Abyssinian Baptist Church & Other Venues in NYC & Rochester, NY

(September 2023) — Gateways Music Festival in association with Eastman School of Music launches its landmark 30th anniversary season with a week of events in Rochester, NY, and New York City (Oct 17–22). Highlights include the Gateways Chamber Players’ Carnegie Hall debut, featuring special guest Phylicia Rashad; a focus on the music of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges; a solo piano recital at Carnegie Hall by Van Cliburn Competition finalist Clayton Stephenson; a Gateways Family Concert at The Greene Space; and performances by the Gateways Brass Collective at the Abyssinian Baptist Church and Metropolitan Museum of Art. These rich fall offerings represent the first half of Gateways’ expanded 2023-24 season, which resumes next spring with a debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (Feb 13), and a weeklong residency in Chicago (April 15–19). By connecting and supporting professional classical musicians of African descent, while enlightening and inspiring audiences through the power of performance, Gateways’ anniversary season continues to rewrite the classical music narrative.

Gateways Chamber Players at Carnegie Hall & more

The newly formed Gateways Chamber Players makes its debut with a program of The Soldier’s Tale Suite by Igor Stravinsky and A Fiddler’s Tale by Wynton Marsalis, both featuring violinist Tai Murray, a musician of “exceptional assurance and style” (Philadelphia Inquirer). TV and stage legend Phylicia Rashad makes a special guest appearance as the narrator in A Fiddler’s Tale. After premiering this program at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music (Oct 20), the ensemble reprises it for its first appearance in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall (Oct 22), where the full Gateways Festival Orchestra made its historic debut last season, with a program showcasing the world premiere of I Can by five-time Grammy-winner Jon Batiste.

New this season, the Chamber Players represent some of the nation’s leading classical musicians. The 2023-24 roster comprises award-winning conductor Damien Sneed, Imani Winds bassoonist Monica Ellis, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra trumpeter Billy Hunter, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra trombonist Weston Sprott, former Los Angeles Philharmonic percussion fellow Wesley Sumpter, National Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra percussionist Jauvon Gilliam, Des Moines Symphony double bassist Patricia Weitzel and former Phoenix Symphony clarinetist Alexander Laing, who inaugurates his appointment as Gateways’ next President & Artistic Director in January. Next spring, the same program takes the ensemble both to Washington, D.C., for a performance marking Gateways’ Kennedy Center debut (Feb 13), and to the Chicago area’s Northwestern University (April 15).

“An Evening of the Music of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges”

Gateways’ fall lineup spotlights the works of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the Black polymath who came to prominence in 18th-century France as a composer, conductor, violin virtuoso and fencing champion. At both Rochester’s Hochstein School of Music (Oct 18) and New York City’s Harlem School of the Arts (Oct 20), the Gateways Chamber Orchestra and conductor Antoine Clark present a program devoted to Saint-Georges’s music, with violinist Brendon Elliott, flutist Terry Andrews, harpist Angelica Hairston and the Marian Anderson String Quartet.

Both concerts will be preceded by “Undoing ‘Black Mozart’: Towards a Truer Legacy of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges,” a talk in the Paul J. Burgett Lecture and Community Conversation Series by Julian Ledford, PhD. The day after each concert, there will be a screening of Chevalier, the 2023 Searchlight Pictures film about Saint-Georges’s life, as well as a pre-film chat with its composer, Kris Bowers, an Oscar nominee best known for his work on the hit Netflix series Bridgerton (Eastman: Oct 19; Harlem: Oct 21).

Gateways Brass Collective, Clayton Stephenson & Gateways Family Concert

Gateways’ extensive fall offerings are completed by five additional events. The Gateways Brass Collective, the nation’s only all-Black professional brass quintet, blends traditional chamber repertoire with jazz and more in performances at Eastman (Oct 17); at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, where the group will be joined by Yale University organist Nathaniel Gumbs (Oct 19); and throughout the iconic galleries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Oct 20).

Under the auspices of the Gateways Residency, young pianist Clayton Stephenson, a finalist in the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and a 2022 Gilmore Young Artist, makes his Gateways debut with a solo recital in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall (Oct 21).

Finally, Gateways’ Young Musicians Institute partners with WQXR’s The Greene Space for the first Gateways Family Concert: an entertaining and interactive morning of music-making that will include a performance by Gateways musicians, an instrument petting zoo, coloring books, and other audience participation activities (Oct 21).

Spring debuts in D.C. & Chicago

The anniversary season continues next spring, when Gateways makes its Kennedy Center debut (Feb 13; see above) before heading to the Midwest for a weeklong residency in Chicago (April 15–19). Hosted by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO)’s Symphony Center Presents, the festival makes its Chicago debut at Orchestra Hall, home of the CSO, with a performance by the Gateways Festival Orchestra and Grammy-winning vocal sextet Take 6 under the baton of Anthony Parnther (April 19). Hailed as “the quintessential L.A. musician of our day” (Los Angeles Times), it was Parnther who led the orchestra’s Carnegie Hall debut last year.

As well as performances by the Gateways Chamber Players at Northwestern University (April 15; see above) and the Gateways Brass Collective at the Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist (April 17), the Chicago festival will also include a recital at Northwestern by Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear (April 17) and two programs of chamber music: one curated by pianist Artina McCain and bass trombonist Martin McCain at the St. Mark United Methodist Church (April 16) and another featuring Chicago-based musicians at the South Shore Cultural Center (April 18).

About Gateways Music Festival

The mission of Gateways Music Festival is to connect and support professional classical musicians of African descent and enlighten and inspire communities through the power of performance. Founded in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1993 by noted concert pianist Armenta Hummings Dumisani, the festival was brought to Rochester, New York in 1997 when Hummings Dumisani joined the Eastman School of Music faculty. Approximately 125 musicians – comprising players in major symphony orchestras, faculty from renowned music schools and conservatories, and active freelance artists – participate in each festival. In 2016, while remaining an independent non-profit organization, Gateways formalized its longstanding relationship with Eastman and the University of Rochester. Among other mutual benefits, this deepened relationship provided much of the infrastructure and resources necessary for Gateways to increase its programming capacity, appoint its first paid staff position and broaden its impact in and beyond Rochester, NY. In addition to the annual full-orchestra festival held each spring, other Gateways initiatives include a yearly chamber music festival each fall; the Gateways Showcase, a social media campaign designed to shed light on the extraordinary stories, artistic achievements and indelible impact of Black classical musicians; the Gateways Brass Collective, the only all-Black professional brass quintet in the country; the Gateways Residency, by which renowned Gateways artists are presented nationwide throughout the year in recitals, masterclasses and community-based activities; the Gateways Chamber Players, an all-star touring ensemble featuring some of the nation’s most renowned classical musicians; and, since January 2023, Gateways Radio, a one-hour syndicated radio program featuring Black classical artists on radio stations across the United States.

About the Eastman School of Music

The first professional school of the University of Rochester, the Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. George Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. Today, more than 900 students – approximately 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students – are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. All students are taught by a faculty comprising more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars and educators, who include Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.

About the University of Rochester

One of the nation’s leading private research universities, the University of Rochester is one of only 62 member-institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, NY, the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon Business School, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.

For high-resolution photos, click here.

www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org
www.facebook.com/gatewaysmusicfestival
https://www.instagram.com/gateways_music_festival/?hl=en
www.youtube.com/c/GatewaysMusicFestival

Gateways Music Festival: 2023-24 Season
Oct 17–20: Rochester, NY
Oct 17
Eastman School of Music (Hatch Recital Hall)
Gateways Brass Collective

Oct 18
Hochstein School of Music (Performance Hall)
Gateways Chamber Orchestra / Antoine Clark, conductor
“An Evening of the Music of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges”
Joseph BOLOGNE: various
(with Brendon Elliott, violin; Terry Andrews, flute; Angelica Hairston, harp; Marian Anderson String Quartet)
Includes pre-concert lecture: “Undoing ‘Black Mozart:’ Towards a Truer Legacy of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges,” presented by Julian Ledford, Ph.D.

Oct 19
Eastman School of Music (Hatch Recital Hall)
Chevalier (2023): screening
Includes pre-film chat with Chevalier composer Kris Bowers

Oct 20
Eastman School of Music (Kilbourn Hall)
Gateways Chamber Players / Damien Sneed, conductor
Tai Murray, violin
Igor STRAVINSKY: The Soldier’s Tale Suite
Wynton MARSALIS: A Fiddler’s Tale (with Phylicia Rashad, special guest narrator)

Oct 19–22: New York City

Oct 19
Abyssinian Baptist Church
Gateways Brass Collective
(with Nathaniel Gumbs, organ)

Oct 20
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gateways Brass Collective

Oct 20
Harlem School of the Arts (Dorothy Maynor Hall)
Gateways Chamber Orchestra / Antoine Clark, conductor
“An Evening of the Music of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges”
Joseph BOLOGNE: various
(with Brendon Elliott, violin; Terry Andrews, flute; Angelica Hairston, harp; Marian Anderson String Quartet)
Includes pre-concert lecture: “Undoing ‘Black Mozart:’ Towards a Truer Legacy of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges,” presented by Julian Ledford, Ph.D.

Oct 21
The Greene Space
Gateways Family Concert

Oct 21
Harlem School of the Arts (Theater)
Chevalier (2023): free screening
Includes pre-film chat with Chevalier composer Kris Bowers

Oct 21
Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall)
Clayton Stephenson, piano
Program TBA

Oct 22
Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall)
Gateways Chamber Players / Damien Sneed, conductor
Tai Murray, violin
Igor STRAVINSKY: The Soldier’s Tale Suite
Wynton MARSALIS: A Fiddler’s Tale (with Phylicia Rashad, special guest narrator)

Feb 13: Washington, DC

Feb 13
Kennedy Center (Terrace Theater)
Gateways Chamber Players / Damien Sneed, conductor
Tai Murray, violin
Igor STRAVINSKY: The Soldier’s Tale Suite
Wynton MARSALIS: A Fiddler’s Tale (with Phylicia Rashad, special guest narrator)

April 15–19: Chicago

April 15
Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University (Pick-Staiger Concert Hall)
Gateways Chamber Players / Damien Sneed, conductor
Tai Murray, violin
Igor STRAVINSKY: The Soldier’s Tale Suite
Wynton MARSALIS: A Fiddler’s Tale (with Phylicia Rashad, special guest narrator)

April 16
St. Mark United Methodist Church
Chamber Music Concert I
Curated by Artina McCain, piano; Martin McCain, bass trombone

April 17
Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University (Galvin Recital Hall)
Stewart Goodyear, piano
Program TBA

April 17
Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist
Gateways Brass Collective

April 18
South Shore Cultural Center (Paul Robeson Theatre)
Chamber Music Concert II
Featuring Chicago-based classical musicians of African descent

April 19
Orchestra Hall (debut)
Gateways Festival Orchestra / Anthony Parnther, conductor
Take 6, guest artist
Edward ELGAR: Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), Op. 36
Margaret BONDS: Montgomery Variations (1964)
Other repertoire TBA

# # #

© 21C Media Group, September 2023