ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC)-Thirty years ago in Rochester the first Gateways Musical Festival started with a performance from William Warfield, the famed Bass Baritone who grew up in Rochester. This week Terence Blanchard, another Grammy-award winning musician will be featured.
Blanchard a world-renowned trumpeter, band leader and artistic leader has scored more than 60 films including 20 with Spike Lee. Blanchard’s rare movie music performance on Thursday marks the beginning of the first music film festival in North America.
Eastman School of Music serves as the hub for both events. “You know between Gateways and Soundtrax its fully 7 days of festivals.” said Alex Laing, the President and Artistic Director of the Gateways Music Festival. Organizers describe the musical event as a homecoming of sorts for African-American musicians at various levels in their professional careers. For audiences, its a beautiful display of Black classical artistry.
Each year, musicians from across the world are invited to participate in various events from student workshops, collaborations with guest artists, chamber concerts and orchestras. “To walk into a hall where you see a hundred professional musicians from all over the world performing together is a transformational experience.” explains LaTanya Afolayan, Gateways Musical Festival Director of Development. “It has this impact especially for people of color who have not been exposed to classical music.”
Laing describes Blanchard’s Film Scores Live! performance as a handshake between the 32 year old Gateways Festival and the launch of the new Soundtrax Film Music Festival. For ticket information and details on how to support Gateways Music Festival visit gatewaysmusicfestival.org
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
