Gateways Music Festival

Gateways Music Festival Celebrating Black classical artistry! The Festival has been based in Rochester, New York since 1995 when Ms.

Gateways Music Festival's mission is to connect and support professional classical musicians of African descent and enlighten and inspire communities through the power of performance. The annual week-long Festival celebrates the participation and contributions of professional classical musicians of African descent through more than 50 solo, chamber and orchestra performances in concert halls and community venues throughout the host city.

125 musicians from across the United States (and a few from Canada, Europe, South America and the Caribbean) participate in the Festival and perform for a large and diverse audience. Gateways Music Festival was founded in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by Juilliard-trained pianist Armenta (Hummings) Dumisani in 1993. Dumisani joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, from which she is now retired.

What happens when a classically trained cellist refuses to let her artistry stay in one lane? Shana Tucker calls it Cham...
09/17/2026

What happens when a classically trained cellist refuses to let her artistry stay in one lane?

Shana Tucker calls it ChamberSoul—her signature blend of classical, jazz, soul, folk, and pop, brought to life through cello, voice, storytelling, and groove.

From original music and jazz standards to fresh interpretations of songs made famous by Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, Cyndi Lauper, and more, Tucker moves between the familiar and something entirely her own.

Experience this magnetic artist at the 2026 Gateways FALL FESTIVAL. 💚

🔗 in bio.

The sound expands. The story continues. The 2026 Gateways Fall Festival is HERE. 💜October 9–12, we return to Rochester f...
09/10/2026

The sound expands. The story continues. The 2026 Gateways Fall Festival is HERE. 💜

October 9–12, we return to Rochester for four days celebrating the depth, range, and expansion of Black artistry in classical music.

Now you already know: Gateways is not just a concert weekend. It’s a gathering. It’s Rochester in community. It’s Black artistry expanding what classical music can hold. It’s something to witness together.

This year’s Festival moves from the concert hall to the sanctuary, from classical repertoire to jazz, soul, scholarship, family discovery, and the next generation of young musicians.

Early-bird access is open now. Use code EARLYBIRD for $25 tickets through Sept. 15.

Save this post. Send it to your group chat. Tag someone who needs to be at Gateways next month.

Full lineup + tickets: https://www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org/fall-festival-2026

09/09/2026

Last fall, we gathered in Rochester for four days of Black artistry at its finest—alive in our shared excellence and filled with the heartfelt homecoming that defines Gateways. 💚

Now, we’re getting ready to share what comes next.

Tell a friend to tell a friend y’all!! 📣 The 2026 Gateways Fall Festival arrives THIS WEEK —and this year, we’re expanding the sound, the traditions, and the possibilities of our artistry.

We can’t wait to share it with you. STAY TUNED…👀

🫶🏾 What would you love to experience at Gateways this fall?

08/06/2026

💨 It’s not after the show, it’s the afterparty… It’s before the show, it’s rehearsal!!

Check out this BTS of our time International Black Theatre Festival, rehearsing Marsalis’s “A Fiddler’s Tale”. Tai Murray shreds in dialogue with imaniwinds’ Monica Ellis, conducted by Damien Sneed with the Gateways Chamber Players.

Feel free to watch this a few times…we keep doing the same thing. 🔥

Triumph and joy. 🌟 Every Gateways performance celebrates the power of our artistry. But some performances rise even high...
08/02/2026

Triumph and joy. 🌟

Every Gateways performance celebrates the power of our artistry. But some performances rise even higher, reflecting the significance of that artistry to our culture and our time—and our appearance at the International Black Theatre Festival was one of those very special occasions.

To Queen M***a (!) Phylicia Rashad and the exquisite talents of Tai Murray, Shaquille Southwell, Monica Ellis, Herbert Smith, Kenneth Thompkins, Patricia Weitzel, Wesley Sumpter, and conductor Damien Sneed: we join the sold-out crowd at the International Black Theatre Festival in applauding the expertise, passion, and joy you brought to every note. 🙌🏾

And to our supporters and friends in Winston-Salem: thank you for the generous Southern hospitality and for welcoming Gateways home once again. 💜

📸 Larry Brown Photography

The devil is BACK in the details. ❤️‍🔥🎻This Wednesday, the Gateways Chamber Players return to Wynton Marsalis’s A Fiddle...
07/27/2026

The devil is BACK in the details. ❤️‍🔥🎻

This Wednesday, the Gateways Chamber Players return to Wynton Marsalis’s A Fiddler’s Tale—a contemporary reimagining of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, in which a young violinist trades her soul for fame and fortune, only to discover the true cost when the devil comes to collect.

We first performed this gripping, swinging work with living legend Phylicia Rashad and an all-star line up of Gateways friends during our 2023 Fall Festival at Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester. Now, we’re thrilled to reprise it before a sold-out audience at the International Black Theatre Festival—in Winston-Salem, the birthplace of Gateways Music Festival.

A special work. A full house. And a homecoming more than 30 years in the making.

See you Wednesday, Winston-Salem! 🌟

📸 Kurt Brownell

07/24/2026

We thought you could use a timeline cleanse. 😉

🖤 In October 2023, at our Fall Festival in Rochester, NY, Angelica Hairston took the stage for the world premiere of Maurice Draughn’s hauntingly lush “Harlem Wine.”

06/26/2026

🖤 Black Music Month Artist Spotlight: Monica Ellis

Bassoonist Monica Ellis is a founding member of the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds and a force in chamber music whose work has expanded the possibilities of the wind quintet and opened new pathways for generations of classical wind players.

Here, Monica brings attitude, elegance, and bite to Mosaicos for Bassoon and Piano, a work written for her by celebrated composer Tania León.

In Monica’s hands, the bassoon speaks with wit, warmth, and unmistakable presence. See her full performance during our Gateways Giving Day celebration, streaming online this Saturday.

06/21/2026

LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING 🖤💫

As our celebration of Juneteenth continues, we’re lifted by this powerful moment from the 2025 Gateways Spring Festival, when voices across Kodak Hall rose together in Rochester, NY, joyfully raising this anthem of freedom, hope, and legacy.

Juneteenth asks us to remember freedom not as a single day, but as a continuing call: to gather, to lift our voices, and to imagine a more just future together.

Let us march on — celebrating the power of music to connect us, and supporting the artists who carry the traditions of our artistry forward.

Address

26 Gibbs Street, # 58
Rochester, NY
14604

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9am - 4:30pm
Friday 9am - 4:30pm

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+15852326106

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