By Walter Rutledge
Dance is a supportive/collaborative art. It requires costumes, lighting, sets, and music. The two disciplines with the closest bond are the marriage between movement and music. If the music provides the melody, then the dance are the visual lyrics. This was the bond between the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) and members of the Gatesway Festival Orchestra (GMFO) during the dance’s company New York City Season April 16th thru April 19th at New York City Center. The dance company and orchestra performed the revival of DTH’s iconic Firebird ballet, and it proved to be an extremely harmonious relationship.
The Gateway Music Festival was founded in 1993 by concert pianist Armenta Hummings Dumisani in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Their mission remains providing classical music opportunities to aspiring musicians of African descent mirrors DTH’s own credo. What an ideal partnership! Bravo Dance Theatre Harlem for “walking the walk”.
In 1995, Dumisani’s joined the faculty of the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and the festival also found a new home. Gatesway reached an important milestone in 2016 when it formalized its longstanding partnership with the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music. This allowed the organization to appoint its first professional staff and strengthen it organizational infrastructure.
Now in its third decade of service Gatesway Music Festival attracts Black classical musicians both locally and nationally through Gateways’ festivals and programs. The program has expanded beyond the classical music genre to include the Gateways Brass Collective, the nation’s only all-Black professional brass quintet; the Gateways Chamber Players; Gateways Radio (a nationally syndicated program showcasing Black classical artistry), Young Musicians Institute; and other education and youth engagement initiatives.
Gateways Music Festival: Inspiring through the Power of Performance
The video reinforces the fact that Black people have always contributed to classical music. Musicians such as Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George(s) called the Black Mozart was an accomplished violinist and composer, outstanding fencer and soldier, and an undisputed ladies’ man. (He probably first coined the phrase “Quand on a goûté au noir, on n’en revient pas”). His story has recently regained notoriety – just one of many in western history who has been forgotten. (And let’s not bring up the debate about the one they called “The Moor” due to has dark complexion – Ludwig van Beethoven).
If you missed the Firebird performance of the Gateway Festival Orchestra during Dance Theatre of Harlem’s New York City season. You can experience the Gateways Brass Collective live on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 4:00pm in New York City’s historic Times Square as part of Carnegie Hall’s citywide music initiative. For more information visit: https://www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org/upcoming-events-1
In Photo: 1. Promotional poster, 2. Gateway Festival Orchestra and founder Armenta Hummings Dumisani 3.Armenta Adam and student
2. Todd Rosenberg photographer
