In Review: Gateways Music Festival Orchestra

DOUBLE DEBUT: The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra went on the road this spring with four days of events and performances in New York City, including the Carnegie Hall debut of the Gateways Orchestra—the first all-Black orchestra to be presented by Carnegie Hall. (Photo: J. Adam Fenster)

The Gateways Music Festival went on the road this spring with four days of events and performances in New York City, including the Carnegie Hall debut of the Gateways Orchestra—the first all-Black orchestra to be presented by Carnegie Hall.

Under the direction of conductor Anthony Parnther, the orchestra performed a program that included the world premiere of a composition by Grammy Award–winning musician and conductor Jon Batiste (piano) that was commissioned by Gateways and supported, in part, by the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music.

Established to celebrate professional classical musicians of African descent, the annual Gateways Music Festival is held in association with Eastman. Plans are under way for Gateways tours to other cities across the country.