Gateways Radio on KVNO

Gateways Radio presents the underrepresented in classical music

The Gateways Music Festival Orchestra is a 125+ member ensemble of musicians of African descent under the leadership of conductor Anthony Parnther. The Orchestra made its stunning Carnegie Hall debut on April 24, 2022 as the first all-Black orchestra to be presented by the famed venue.

Gateways Radio features exceptional compositions and exquisite performances, celebrating the Gateways Music Festival’s mission of connecting and supporting classical musicians of African descent and serving as a source of inspiration, enlightenment, and engagement for communities—especially communities underrepresented in classical music.

In its debut radio season, Gateways Radio features works by James V. Cockerham, William Grant Still, William Levi Dawson, Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Adolphus Hailstork, Carlos Simon, arrangements of traditional spirituals by Harry T. Burleigh, Hall Johnson, and more. Performers include pianists Armenta Hummings Dumisani and Althea Waites, saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Thomas Walsh, clarinetists Alexander Laing and Anthony McGill, the Imani Winds, Catalyst Quartet, Harlem Quartet, and the Gateways Orchestra with performances under the baton of Anthony Parnther and Gateways’ late music director Michael Morgan.

The program is produced and hosted by Garrett McQueen, who KVNO listeners grew to know when he hosted The Sound of 13, a program produced by KVNO. He has been a member of several professional orchestras, most recently the Knoxville Symphony, and serves on the board of the American Composers Forum and maintains leadership and advisory positions with the Black Opera Alliance, the Gateways Music Festival, and the Lakes Area Music Festival.