William Grant Still
composer
About this Artist
William Grant Still (born May 11, 1895, in Woodville, MS; died December 3, 1978, in Los Angeles, CA) is remembered as a pioneering musician of the modern age. He was the first living African American composer whose work was performed by a major symphony orchestra, and his most popular work – his Symphony No. 1, the “Afro-American” Symphony – was the most performed work by an American composer (African American or otherwise) for more than 20 years in the midsection of the 20th century. Still composed more than 150 concert works, including symphonies, ballets, operas, chamber works, choral and solo vocal works, and arrangements of Negro spirituals.