the brilliance returns HOME!
This spring, Gateways Music Festival returns to its birthplace in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for a powerful week of programs honoring founder Armenta Hummings Dumisani and the community she first convened more than three decades ago. From a triumphant tribute concert featuring the Gateways Chamber Orchestra with Amadi Azikiwe and Marcus Thompson to masterclasses, community conversations, and joyful reunions, the 2026 Spring Festival gathers artists and audiences in a living celebration of lineage, fellowship, and sound.
All public events are free with RSVP.
Come home to the music. Reserve your seat.
festival schedule
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Gateways in Celebration: A Concert Honoring the Legacy of Armenta Hummings Dumisani
THURS. APR 23 | 7:00 PM
A culminating concert featuring Amadi Azikiwe and Marcus Thompson in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, with works by Coleridge-Taylor, Bonds, and more.
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Gateways Brass Collective at Centenary United Methodist Church
SUN. APR. 19 | 11:00 AM
The Gateways Brass Collective joins Centenary for the worship service, bringing vibrant artistry and expressive power to this special Sunday morning gathering.
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Dr. Paul J. Burgett Lecture and Community Conversation: Mira Walker, Piano
MON. APR 20 | 2:00 PM
Pianist and 2025 NAMM Scholarship Competition Winner Mira Walker offers a lecture-recital exploring the Chicago Black Renaissance through works by Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Betty Jackson King and Irene Britton Smith.
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Piano Recital: Damien Sneed
MON. APR. 20 | 7:00 PM
Emmy Award–winning pianist, composer and conductor Damien Sneed presents a recital reflecting his expansive musical voice, including selections from his forthcoming Apple Music Classical release.
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Gateways Brass Collective in Concert
TUES. APR. 21 | 6:30 PM
A dynamic program tracing the impact of Black artistry across the musical landscape, performing works by Margaret Bonds, Dizzy Gillespie, Anthony Barfield, Jeff Scott and more.
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Young Musicians Institute: Brass Day
WED. APR. 22 | 3:30-6:00 PM
The Gateways Brass Collective leads young musicians through technique workshops, ensemble playing and collaborative music-making in a dynamic, inspiring environment.
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Prelude to Spring: Celebrating The Gateways Piano Legacy
MON. APR. 6 | 7:30 PM
A pre-festival livestream featuring archival performances by Damien Sneed, David Berry, Rochelle Sennet, Armenta Hummings Dumisani and more, celebrating the piano tradition that anchors our founder’s artistry.
STAY UP TO DATE
a welcome from gateways president & artistic director, alex laing
This spring, Gateways Music Festival returns to where it all began — Winston-Salem, North Carolina — for a homecoming that is both celebration and continuation. More than thirty years after Miss Armenta first gathered Black classical musicians in affirmation and fellowship, we return to honor her vision and the community she built.
At Gateways, Black culture and classical music are not in conversation from a distance — they are inseparable. You don’t just hear it; you feel it. It moves through the room, connecting people across time, tradition, and lived experience. That spirit anchors this Spring Festival — from our culminating tribute concert, Gateways in Celebration, to masterclasses, recitals, community conversations, and the joyful gathering of artists who continue to carry this work forward.
This week is about lineage and presence. It is about artists returning to one another, about young musicians stepping into possibility, and about audiences sharing space in the music that connects us. Each event is free and open because this celebration belongs to the community that made it possible.
We are honored to return home.
Welcome to the 2026 Gateways Spring Festival.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Freedom is never free. What you do to help yourself provides the most durable foundation for your talents, goals and, indeed, survival.
– ARMENTA HUMMINGS DUMISANI
HONORING OUR FOUNDER
Acclaimed award-winning concert pianist, educator, and community activist Armenta (Hummings) Dumisani is the visionary founder of the Gateways Music Festival. She is a former Associate Professor of Music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and served as the school’s Distinguished Community Mentor from 1994 until 2009.
GATEWAYS BRASS
COLLECTIVE
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Since its founding in 2018, the Gateways Brass Collective has distinguished itself as a dynamic touring ensemble delivering electrifying performances and impactful educational programs nationwide. An ensemble of Gateways Music Festival, the Collective advances the organization’s mission to connect and support professional classical musicians of African descent while inspiring communities through performance and mentorship.
The ensemble features Courtney Jones and Herbert Smith, trumpet; Larry Williams, horn; Isrea Butler, trombone; and Jerome Stover, tuba. Together, they have appeared at leading festivals and conferences including the Midwest Clinic, Ravinia Festival, the HBCU Band Directors’ Consortium, and the International Trombone Festival.
Members of the Collective have performed with major orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony, and collaborated with legendary artists across genres. Dedicated educators, they serve on university faculties nationwide and partner with Conn-Selmer to support the next generation of brass musicians through innovative clinics and workshops.
AMADI
AZIKIWE
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Amadi Azikiwe is an acclaimed violist, violinist, and conductor whose artistry has been heard in major cities across the United States and internationally, including appearances at Alice Tully Hall with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at the Kennedy Center. An accomplished chamber musician, he has performed with distinguished ensembles such as the St. Lawrence, Miró, and Anderson quartets and is a former member of the Ritz Chamber Players.
Azikiwe currently serves as Music Director of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra and Community Engagement Director of the Harlem Chamber Players. As an orchestral musician, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic and served as principal violist of the SHIRA Jerusalem International Symphony Orchestra.
A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, the New England Conservatory, and Indiana University, Azikiwe studied with Marcus Thompson and Atar Arad and continues to balance performance, leadership, and mentorship at the highest artistic level.
DAMIEN
SNEED
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Damien LeChateau Sneed is an Emmy Award–winning conductor, composer, producer, and arts educator whose work spans opera, orchestral music, film, and interdisciplinary performance. Widely recognized for uniting classical rigor with culturally resonant storytelling, Sneed has received multiple opera commissions, including Treemonisha for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and a forthcoming world premiere with Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center in 2026. His recent works also include The Tongue & The Lash, Marian’s Song, and Empower, affirming his role in expanding the contemporary American operatic canon.
As a conductor and composer, Sneed has collaborated with leading orchestras nationwide, including a joint Carnegie Hall and Gateways commission, Reflections of Resilience: Five Spirituals. Beyond the classical sphere, he has worked with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, and Aretha Franklin. Sneed is a tenured Associate Professor at Howard University, serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School, and records for Apple Music Classical.
JAS
OGISTE
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Jas Ogiste is a solo and chamber pianist who has been recognized by institutions, including The Harlem School of Arts, National Association for Negro Musicians, Flint Initiative, and The Watson Foundation. She currently works for Americas Society/Music of the Americas and as a researcher for WQXR’s podcast, Every Voice with Terrance McKnight.
During her undergraduate career, Jas studied with Haewon Song and has been mentored by renowned classical pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton, Peter Basquin, and Elinor Freer. She has also placed in the Spotlight International Piano Competition, William Knabe International Piano Competition, and Ruthmere Piano Competition. Jas is continuing her performing career as a pianist in New York City and has been heard at performance halls, including Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall, The Harlem School of the Arts, and Lincoln Center’s Sidewalk Studio. She received her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory in 2022 and is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
Jas’s work reflects her Afro-Caribbean culture and identity; she was a national competitor for a 2022 Watson Foundation Fellowship for her project “Bridging Two Worlds: Navigating Blackness in Classical Music,” and she intends to continue to empower and spotlight artists of the African diaspora through her work and musical output.
MARCUS
THOMPSON
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Marcus Thompson has earned international acclaim since his New York recital debut as winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He has appeared as soloist with major orchestras including the Boston Pops, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra, and has performed in recital at Carnegie Recital Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center, and leading venues across the Americas.
A longtime artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society, Thompson became its Artistic Director in 2009. He has been a frequent guest of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and numerous major chamber festivals worldwide.
A champion of contemporary music, Thompson has commissioned and premiered works by composers including John Harbison and Olly Wilson, and his extensive discography includes concertos and solo works spanning the viola repertoire. He served as MIT’s first Robert R. Taylor Professor of Music and was later named an Institute Professor.
MIRA
WALKER
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American pianist Mira Walker is known for her sensitive interpretations of repertoire ranging from J.S. Bach to Florence Price, her research on historically underrepresented composers, and her dedication to community outreach through music. She is currently a D.M.A. candidate in Piano Pedagogy and Performance at the University of Michigan, under the instruction of Logan Skelton. Mira holds an MM in Piano Performance from Indiana University and a BA in Music from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her honors include First Prize in the NANM and NFMC Piano Competitions. Other recognitions include Finalist in the Tureck International Bach Competition, Farwell Winner in the MCW Music Competition, and winner of the Southern Adventist University and Alabama Symphony Concerto Competitions. Mira has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Ann Arbor Symphony, Alabama Symphony, and the National Ukrainian Symphony. As a chamber musician, Mira is pianist for the Estella Duo with soprano Lydia Bangura, currently embarking on a national tour featuring music by Florence Price and Margaret Bonds.
WINSTON-SALEM venue INFORMATION
Centenary United Methodist Church
646 W 5th St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Phone: (336) 724-6311
Website: https://www.centenary-ws.org/
Forsyth County Central Library
660 W 5th St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Phone: (336) 703-2665
Website: https://forsythlibrary.org
Winston-Salem State University
601 S Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Winston-Salem, NC 27110
Phone: (336) 750-2000
Website: https://www.wssu.edu/
United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church
450 Metropolitan Dr., Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Phone: (336) 761-1358
Website: https://unitedmetropolitan.org/
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