World premiere of new orchestral commission from Damien Sneed,
featuring J’Nai Bridges
Gateways Festival Orchestra led by acclaimed conductor Anthony Parnther
Gateways Music Festival in association with Eastman School of Music, of the University of Rochester, celebrates the transformative power of Black classical artistry with its Spring Festival 2025 in Rochester, NY (April 21–24) and New York City (April 24–27). This exciting lineup of performances features the excellence of professional Black classical artists.
Spring Festival 2025 welcomes conductor Anthony Parnther and the Gateways Festival Orchestra back to Kodak Hall on Thursday, April 24, for a program which complements folk-inspired symphonies by Antonín Dvořák and William Levi Dawson with the world premiere of a new Gateways commission from Damien Sneed, featuring mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. More festival highlights include solo recitals by violinist Curtis Stewart ’08E, ’08 (April 22) and pianist Rochelle Sennet (April 21); the Paul J. Burgett Lecture and Community Conversation with Dr. Louise Toppin (University of Michigan) exploring Dawson’s legacy (April 23); and a performance by the Gateways Brass Collective at WXXI’s Live from Hochstein series (April 23).
“Gateways isn’t just a festival—it’s a home. A place where Black classical musicians bring their full selves to the stage, and where audiences can come together to listen, connect, and celebrate” said Gateways Music Festival President & Artistic Director, Alex Laing. “This April, we invite Rochester to come out, see world class artists, and be part of a cultural moment. Whether it’s your first festival, or you never miss one, if classical music has been part of your life for decades or you’re experiencing it for the first time, Gateways Spring Festival promises to challenge, inspire, and uplift.”
Recently supported with a million-dollar grant from the Mellon Foundation, Gateways’ rich offerings are set to make a profound and lasting impact on the classical music landscape. Through its work, Gateways provides a supportive community and a joyful home for professional Black classical artists, shaping its own narrative in classical music and bringing people of all backgrounds and ages together to celebrate the living tradition of Black classical artistry.
Gateways Festival Orchestra at Eastman School of Music’s Kodak Hall (April 24)
The Gateways Festival Orchestra will present its Rochester finale concerts under the baton of Anthony Parnther. Hailed by The New York Times as “a conductor for the future” with “a flourishing career,” Parnther leads the orchestra in a thoughtfully curated program that celebrates the enduring power of folk traditions, with special focus on the cultural legacy of Negro spirituals and their profound influence on American music. The program opens with Antonín Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, a work inspired by the dances and folk tunes of the composer’s Bohemian homeland. Dvořák believed that “Negro melodies … must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States,” and the program concludes with William Levi Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, a towering landmark in American composition.Rooted in the spiritual tradition and shaped by Dawson’s travels in West Africa, his work represents a resounding declaration of Black cultural pride.
The two symphonies bookend the world premiere of Reflections of Resilience: Five Spirituals, a new Gateways Music Festival commission from NAACP Image Award- and Sphinx Medal of Excellence-winning musical polymath Damien Sneed. Describing the new work as “five spirituals carefully woven together in a musical tapestry highlighting the tradition of the African American spiritual,” Sneed explains:
“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 composed and arranged the cycle for Gateways Festival Orchestra, featuring such traditional African percussion instruments as the clave and adawura, and for Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, who joins Parnther and the ensemble for its first performances.
Solo recitals in Hatch Recital Hall: Curtis Stewart (April 22) & Rochelle Sennet (April 21)
Gateways Spring Festival 2025 will also shine a light on the work of two important Black artists: Curtis Stewart and Rochelle Sennet. “Combining omnivory and brilliance” (The New York Times), six-time Grammy nominee and Eastman alum Curtis Stewart ’08E, ’08 is a violinist and composer who serves as Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, professor at The Juilliard School, and member of award-winning ensembles PUBLIQuartet and The Mighty Third Rail. Gateways presents Stewart in recital at Eastman on April 22 to showcase Seasons of Change, his re-composition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as an Afrofuturist meditation on climate change, memory, and resilience. This interlayers Vivaldi’s music with Stewart’s digital soundscapes and recordings of the unhoused in Phoenix, AZ, whose voices and personal stories form the emotional backbone of his work.
“It is an absolute honor every time I return to Eastman to work with students, the faculty, my former (and forever) teachers, and Gateways—I remember going to my first Gateways rehearsal up in the Annex my sophomore year of Eastman and feeling very in tune with my musical home,” shares Stewart. “I came back a few years ago for the Eastman Centennial Award, which was a huge honor and a great opportunity to hang with the many generations of change-makers that Eastman supports, fosters, and inspires. I can’t wait to see what good trouble we get up to this time.”
Pianist Rochelle Sennet is the inaugural Associate Dean of DEI at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As part of a season-long partnership with Eastman’s George Walker Center for Equity and Inclusion in Music, Sennet will present a solo piano recital at Eastman on April 21.
Gateways Brass Collective (April 23) at Hochstein Performance Hall
The nation’s only all-Black professional brass quintet, Gateways Brass Collective comprises trumpeters Herbert Smith (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) and Courtney Jones, horn player Larry Williams, trombonist Isrea Butler, and tuba player Jerome Stover. All equally adept in classical, jazz, and contemporary idioms, they have performed with artists and ensembles ranging from Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra to the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphonies. Following last fall’s sold-out performance at Eastman’s Kilbourn Hall, Gateways Brass Collective returns to Rochester this spring, taking its signature mix of genres to the city’s Hochstein Performance Hall as part of WXXI’s Live from Hochstein (April 23), the longest-running live broadcast concert series in Western New York.
Celebrating Dawson’s legacy with talk, conversation & song (April 23) in Hatch Recital Hall
Gateways rounds out the Spring Festival with an enrichment event honoring the legacy of pioneering composer, arranger, musicologist, and choral director William Levi Dawson. Presented in collaboration with the William Levi Dawson Institute for Classical and Folk Music at Tuskegee University, the 2025 Paul J. Burgett Lecture and Community Conversation at Eastman, Dr. Louise Toppin, Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, will explore Dawson’s work at the Tuskegee Institute, his vital role in preserving and elevating Black composers’ contributions to classical music, and his integration of spirituals into the symphonic tradition. Soprano Amber Rogers, winner of the 2024 National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) Competition, will give a recital of Dawson’s vocal works, and a panel discussion will further examine his legacy and the broader impact of Black music traditions (April 23).
Visit the Gateways website for additional information about the season and to purchase tickets.
For high-resolution photos, click here.
For the Spring Festival Social Media Toolkit, click here.
Gateways Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music (Public Events)
SPRING 2025 | April 21–24, 2025
Monday, April 21
7:30 p.m. | Hatch Recital Hall
Recital: Rochelle Sennet, piano — presented in collaboration with Eastman’s George Walker Center for Equity and Inclusion.
Admission: $10-$15
Tuesday, April 22
7:30 p.m. | Hatch Recital Hall
Violinist, composer and four-time Grammy nominee Curtis Stewart ’08E, ’08 performs Seasons of Change—his re-composition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as an Afrofuturist meditation on climate change, class, and the nature of digital memory.
Admission: $20
Wednesday, April 23
12:15 pm | Hochstein Performance Hall (50 N. Plymouth Ave)
Gateways Brass Collective: “Live at Hochstein”
Admission: Free with RSVP
Wednesday, April 23
6:00 p.m. | Hatch Recital Hall
Paul J. Burgett Lecture and Community Conversation: Dr. Louise Toppin (University of Michigan) Celebrates William Levi Dawson’s legacy with word, song, and conversation, with performance by Amber Rogers — presented in collaboration with William Levi Dawson Institute for Classical and Folk Music at Tuskegee University.
Admission: Free with RSVP
Thursday, April 24
7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
Anthony Parnther leads Gateways Festival Orchestra in a thoughtfully curated program of Antonín Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, William Levi Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony,and the world premiere of a new Gateways commissioned work by Damien Sneed, featuring Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges.
Admission: $20-$30
Media Only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About Gateways Music Festival
Founded in 1993 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by visionary pianist Armenta Hummings Dumisani, Gateways Music Festival celebrates Black classical artistry while enlightening and inspiring communities through the power of performance. Designed by Black artists, Gateways embraces the full spectrum of classical music through the lenses of freedom and excellence, forging new pathways between artists, audiences, and tradition.
In 1995, Gateways moved to Rochester, New York, when Hummings Dumisani joined the faculty at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, and the festival became a biennial event. In 2016, Gateways formalized its long-standing relationship with the University of Rochester and Eastman, providing essential resources to expand programming, appoint full-time staff, and deepen the festival’s impact.
Today, Gateways presents a dynamic range of programming in the flagship Festivals, including orchestral and chamber performances , recitals, artist residencies, panel discussions, and community engagement initiatives. With initiatives like Gateways Radio, artist residencies, the Gateways Brass Collective, the Gateways Chamber Players, and the Young Musicians Institute—Its impact extends beyond the concert hall—fostering relationships between established and emerging musicians, creating opportunities for artists to perform and collaborate at the highest levels, and amplifying the work of Black composers.
From its grassroots beginnings to today——Gateways curates, presents, and sustains artistry that defines a tradition.
To learn more, visit Gateways at www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 170 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are 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:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., 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 School of Business, 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.