Jones ’09 and Johns ’22 Featured in Virtual Performance of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ with Gateway Music Festival Orchestra

Trumpeter Courtney Jones ’09 (Master of Music in Performance) and percussionist Donnie Johns ’22 (Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance) were featured in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a virtual video co-produced by Gateway Music Festival and WQXR-FM (New York). Jones and Johns are current musicians in the Gateways Music Festival orchestra and its members recorded themselves at home for WQXR to put together for a virtual from-home performance.

The project sought to, “ . . . share this message of hope and healing to inspire communities throughout the world and affirm our unity.” For 27 years Gateways Music Festival’s mission has been to connect and support professional classical musicians of African descent and enlighten and inspire communities through the power of performance.