This fall, the brilliance returns!
The Gateways 2025 Fall Festival brings the soul of Black classical artistry back to Rochester, NY for intimate concerts, bold collaborations, and joyful connection.
Experience Terence Blanchard’s unforgettable film scores, performed live with the Gateways Festival Orchestra. Feel the power of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Nonet in the hands of all-star chamber players. Be moved by pianist David Berry’s solo recital tracing the legacy of spirituals. And cheer on the next generation at our Young Musicians Institute.
Gateways is more than music—it’s a homecoming. A celebration of artistry, community, and presence.
Join us.
Rochester, NY events October 13-16
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Film Scores Live! Terence Blanchard with the Gateways Festival Orchestra
THURS.OCT 16, 2025 | 7:00 PM
Kodak Hall, Rochester, NYTerence Blanchard joins the Gateways Festival Orchestra for Film Scores Live!—a powerful celebration of music, culture, and legacy, in collaboration with the Soundtrax Film Festival.
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GATEWAYS CHAMBER PLAYERS
WED. OCT. 15, 2025 | 7:30 PM
Hatch Recital Hall, Rochester, NYA centerpiece of the 2025 Fall Festival, this evening of classical brilliance and soul-filled artistry features an all-star ensemble of Black classical musicians performing Coleridge-Taylor’s Nonet in F Minor.
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Piano Recital: David Berry
TUES. OCT. 14, 2025 | 7:30 PM
Hatch Recital Hall, Rochester, NYEastman alumnus David Berry returns to Rochester for a powerful solo recital exploring the deep kinship he finds between Black music and the virtuoso piano tradition—featuring works by George Walker, Franz Liszt, and Berry’s own arrangements.
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Young Musicians Institute: Rochester Day for Strings
MON. OCT. 13, 2025 | 6:30 PM
Kilbourn Hall, Rochester, NYA free, day-long program where young string players learn, rehearse, and perform alongside Gateways' professional teaching artists. A pillar of Gateways Music Festival’s education programming.
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YOUNG MUSICIANS INSTITUTE: SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE
MON. OCT. 13, 2025 | 6:30 PM
Kilbourn Hall, Rochester, NYCelebrate Rochester’s young string players in a free concert featuring music they’ve learned and co-created during Gateways’ inspiring Young Musicians Institute: Rochester Day for Strings.
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Fall Festival Ticket Package
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a welcome from gateways president & artistic director, alex laing
Welcome. We’re so glad you’re here.
This fall, Gateways Music Festival returns to Rochester with a vibrant, multi-day celebration of Black classical artistry—alive with story, memory, and imagination.
We’re opening new doors this season, partnering with the inaugural Soundtrax Film Festival to bring Terence Blanchard’s iconic film scores to the concert stage—performed live with the composer himself and the Gateways Festival Orchestra. A legendary artist and a history-making orchestra, bringing a cinematic sound world to life on the concert stage. It could only happen here at Gateways, and we're so excited to break new ground.
We continue to uplift the voices of Black composers, past and present. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Nonet anchors a homecoming of powerhouse musicians in our Chamber Players concert. Pianist David Berry offers a deeply expressive recital exploring the kinship between Black music and the virtuoso piano tradition. And our Young Musicians Institute returns, inviting young string players to learn, perform, and grow alongside Gateways’ professional teaching artists.
This fall is about connection and collaboration—between artists and audiences, organizations and ideas, new friends and old friends, past and present, sound and story. What you’ll hear is powerful, and what makes it matter more is that we’re here together. Sharing space. Making meaning. Building something that lasts beyond the last note.
We welcome you to the Gateways 2025 Fall Festival.
FESTIVAL FEATURES
Jordan
Bak
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Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak is celebrated for his expressive artistry and commanding stage presence. A laureate of major competitions, he appears with leading orchestras and chamber groups worldwide. Bak is Professor of Viola at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a Delphian Records artist.
David
Berry
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David Berry is a versatile pianist, arranger, educator, and speaker, acclaimed for his dynamic performances at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kimmel Center, and Merkin Hall. A prizewinner of multiple international competitions, Berry combines artistry and insight, engaging audiences through performance, education, and thought-provoking musical presentations.
Monica
Ellis
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Bassoonist Monica Ellis is a founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated Imani Winds and serves as its co-artistic and executive director. A Juilliard-trained performer and educator, she teaches at Manhattan School of Music and Curtis. Ellis is also a passionate advocate for diversity, entrepreneurship, and education in classical music.
Terence Blanchard
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Terence Blanchard is an eight-time Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated trumpeter and composer whose work spans jazz, film, opera, and Broadway. Renowned for addressing social justice through music, he is acclaimed globally for his boundary-defying artistry and was named by TheaterMania as “the most exciting American composer working in opera today.
Damon
Gupton
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Damon Gupton, a Detroit native, is a conductor and actor whose appearances span major symphonies including Houston, Detroit, and San Francisco. A Juilliard-trained actor, he’s starred in Broadway and film, including Whiplash and La La Land. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan and Aspen Conducting Institute.
Olivia
Hamilton
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Cellist Patrice Jackson, winner of the Sphinx Competition, has soloed with major U.S. orchestras including Atlanta and Philadelphia. A Juilliard and Yale alumna, she is Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music. Known for her tonal richness and expressive depth, she maintains an active solo and chamber career.
Jherrard Hardeman
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Jherrard Hardeman, a Detroit native, Assistant Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, is a rising talent in classical music. A Juilliard-trained conductor and accomplished violinist, he leads education, community, and family programs while championing mentorship and artistic excellence nationwide.
Patrice Jackson
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Clarinetist Olivia Hamilton is the Margee and Will Bracken Fellow with the Minnesota Orchestra and Principal Clarinetist of the Sioux City Symphony. She has performed with the Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Paul Symphony Orchestras, and appeared in the Oscar-nominated film Maestro. Hamilton holds degrees from Northwestern and UNT. Clarinetist Olivia Hamilton is the Margee and Will Bracken Fellow with the Minnesota Orchestra and Principal Clarinetist of the Sioux City Symphony. She has performed with the Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Paul Symphony Orchestras, and appeared in the Oscar-nominated film Maestro. Hamilton holds degrees from Northwestern and UNT.
Kyle
Lombard
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Violinist Kyle Andre Lombard, a Kansas City native, is an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician. A graduate of Indiana University and Yale, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, and internationally. A former Saint Louis Symphony fellow, Lombard appears with leading ensembles and performs on a 1775 Gennaro Vinaccia violin.
Joshua
Mhoon
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Titus Underwood is Principal Oboe of the Nashville Symphony and a Sphinx Medalist. An Emmy winner for We Are Nashville, he has performed with the LA Philharmonic and Chineke! A Juilliard and Colburn graduate, Underwood is a passionate advocate for representation in classical music.
Kevin
Newton
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GRAMMY-winning hornist Kevin Newton is a member of Imani Winds and active in ensembles like Orpheus and Alarm Will Sound. A composer and Juilliard educator, he champions contemporary music and teaches at institutions including Curtis and MSM. Newton’s performances span chamber, solo, and orchestral stages worldwide.
Titus Underwood
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Chicago-born pianist Joshua Mhoon is a Juilliard student and Young Steinway Artist whose performance career spans Carnegie Hall to Red Bull TV. A Nina Simone Piano Competition medalist, he blends classical and Black American musical traditions in his performance and composition, aiming to expand classical music’s reach.
Patricia Weitzel
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Bassist Dr. Patricia Weitzel performs internationally and teaches at Penn State. She is Dean of Faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy and principal of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra. A champion of equity in music, she has held faculty roles at Columbus State and Grinnell College.
Gateways fesTIVAL OrchestRa enlightens through the power of performance
The Gateways Festival Orchestra brings together Black professional musicians from the nation’s leading orchestras and music faculties for exhilarating performances that celebrate the richness of the classical tradition. As the heart of Gateways Music Festival, the orchestra provides a home for Black classical artists to connect, collaborate, and share their artistry with audiences. Through dynamic concerts and thoughtfully curated programs, the orchestra highlights the profound contributions of Black musicians to classical music, honoring history while shaping its future.
FESTIVAL venue INFORMATION
ROCHESTER, NY VENUE INFORMATION
Hatch Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music
433 East Main St., Rochester, NY 14604
Phone: (585) 274-3000
Hatch Recital Hall 3D Tour
Kodak Hall, Eastman School of Music
60 Gibbs St., Rochester, NY 14604
Phone: (585) 274-3000
Explore Kodak Hall
Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music
26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, NY 14604
Phone: (585) 274-3000
Visit Kilbourn Hall
Connect with Gateways
