WXXI Classical Broadcasts the Gateways Music Festival’s Carnegie Hall Debut Live on April 24 at 3 PM
(Rochester, New York) April 18, 2022 – On Sunday, April 24 Rochester-based Gateways Music Festival Orchestra will make their Carnegie Hall debut in New York City to a sold-out crowd. WXXI is pleased to bring their NYC performance to fans in the Rochester area. The Gateways Orchestra will broadcast live on WXXI Classical as a simulcast from NYC’s public radio station WQXR on April 24 at 3 p.m. It will also stream live on WXXIClassical.org.
The orchestra, led by conductor Anthony Parnther, will perform Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, and Sinfonia No. 3 by George Walker – the first African-American Pulitzer Prize for Music Laureate and whose centennial falls in 2022. The concert will also feature Jon Batiste’s world premiere for piano and orchestra, I Can. The concert will conclude with James V. Cockerham’s Fantasia on “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a rousing and epic musical journey from Africa to the new world which has become the signature piece of the Gateways Orchestra.
The 120-member Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, whose distinguished players hail from the nation’s foremost orchestras and conservatory faculties, is renowned for its bold sound, exciting interpretations and uncompromising pursuit of artistic excellence. Regularly performing old and new classics, the Gateways Orchestra takes special pride in showcasing the works of composers of African descent, both past and present.
The seven-day 2022 Gateways Music Festival, kicking off in Rochester on April 18 and heading to NYC on April 21, features two full orchestra concerts, six chamber music performances, two piano recitals, two film screenings, two lectures, a panel discussion, the Young Musicians Institute and an “after hours” jam session.
Before the orchestra makes their trip to the Big Apple, they will also join WXXI Classical’s Julia Figueras for a special BackStage Passon Wednesday, April 20 at 12 p.m. The special, broadcast live from Kodak Hall, will feature a performance by the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra and interviews with Anthony Parnther, conductor; Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin, concert master; Kearstin Piper-Brown, chair, board of directors; Alexander Laing, vice-chair, board of directors; chair, Artistic Programs Committee; principal clarinet, Gateways Orchestra and Phoenix Symphony; and Titus Underwood, principal oboe, Gateways Orchestra and Nashville Symphony.