“Not only do I deeply appreciate the superior quality and unique sound of the Steinway piano, but also the ability of its highly trained technicians to accommodate the needs of each individual artist.”
Armenta Adams
Armenta Adams (Hummings) Dumisani is a former Associate Professor of Music at the Eastman School of Music. She was appointed in 1994 as Eastman’s Distinguished Community Mentor.
She was twice the recipient of the Martha Baird Rockefeller Aid to Music Grant. She was also winner of the John Hay Whitney Competition, the New York Musicians Club Piano Competition, the Musical America Musician of the Year Award, the National Association of Negro Musicians Competition, and the first Leeds International Competition Special Prize. She has appeared at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., the Beethoven Festival in Carbondale, IL, and at the International Piano Festival at the University of Maryland as Guest Artist on the Great Performer Series.
She is founder and artistic director of the Gateways Music Festival, a nationwide festival celebrating the achievements of African American classical musicians. Founded in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1993, it was presented at the Eastman School of Music in 1995. Since then, the Rochester community has presented the festival in collaboration with the Eastman School of Music every two years. In addition, young musicians inspired by their experiences at the Gateways Music Festival are creating their own concert series throughout the country. Armenta’s greatest source of pride is seeing young people become architects of their own future.