Keith Gates (1948-2007) lived in Lake Charles, home of McNeese State University, where he taught for many years. Gates began serious musical studies in composition as a high school student at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. After receiving his high school diploma from NCSA, and attending two years of college there, he went to the Juilliard School in New York City, where he earned his BM and MM degrees. His composition teachers included Vincent Persichetti and Hugo Weisgall. While attending the Juilliard School, Gates received the Lado Prize for string writing, and the Irving Berlin Teaching Fellowship for two consecutive years.

Keith Gates composed in many genres including symphonies, concerti and operas. His 100+ works are for band, wind ensemble, orchestra, and choir, as well as for various chamber ensembles and soloists. His second opera, Migle and the Bugs, has been performed in Siena, Italy, and at Alice Tully Hall in New York. He received commissions and grants to write the operas Tom Sawyer, The Hollow, Evangeline, and The Christmas Coin.