Overview

William Grant Still was a classical composer. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 150 compositions. As the first African-American to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the United States, Still is often called the “Dean” of African-American composers.

Early Life and Education

William Grant Still was born on May 11, 1895 in Woodville, Miss. His parents, Carrie Lena and William Grant Still, Sr.


were both educators. In addition, Still’s father was an entrepreneur—co-owning a grocery and conducted a local band. When Still was a baby, his father died and the family moved to Little Rock, Ark. Within a few years, Still’s mother remarried, Charles B. Shepperson, who helped Still develop his skills as a musician.

At the age of 14, Still began playing the violin. He also taught himself to play the clarinet, saxophone, oboe, double bass, cello and viola. The following year, Still graduated high school and was sent to Wilberforce University to pursue a career in medicine. While a student, Still continued to learn to play several instruments and conducted a band. He also conducted the school’s band and began composing orchestras.

Still’s interest in music led him to accept a scholarship to attend Oberlin Conservatory of Music. However, in 1918, Still joined the US Navy, serving in World War I. When the war was over, Still returned to Oberlin briefly but left to become a musician in New York City.

 

Life as a Musician

In 1919, Still began working as a musical arranger for W.C. Handy’s band.

Two years later, Still was a musician in the pit orchestra for the musical Shuffle Along. Early in his career, Still composed Darker America (1924) and From the Black Belt (1926). A few years later, Still worked with Harlem Stride pianist James P. Johnson as an arranger of Yamekraw.

Throughout the rest of Still’s career, he continued to arrange and compose music. Most notable is his ability to cross racial lines, becoming the first African-American to:

• Write a major orchestral work. In 1931, Stillwrote Afro-American Symphony. That same year, the Rochester Philharmonic premiered Still’s work.  
• Conduct a major symphony orchestra. In 1936, Still worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Direct a major symphony in the South. As African-Americans were beginning to fight against Jim Crow laws, Still conducted the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra in 1955.

 

• Conduct a major network radio orchestra. Not only was Still able to arrange classical compositions, he also worked as an arranger of popular music. During the 1930s, Still wrote Willard Robison’s Deep River Hour and Paul Whiteman’s Old Gold Show.
• Produce an opera by a prominent American company. In 1949, Still’s opera, Troubled Island was performed by the New York City Opera. Originally written in 1939, the opera told the story of Haitian Revolutionary Jacques Dessalines. Throughout Still’s career, he wrote eight operas in total—mostly funded by his Guggenheim Fellowship.

 

Awards

Throughout Still’s career as an arranger, composer and musician, he was honored for his work. His most notable awards include:

• Receiving two Guggenheim Fellowships.
• Honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Wilberforce University, Howard University, Bates College, the University of Arkansas, Pepperdine University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Southern California.
• In 1982, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for music and composition of his opera A Bayou Legend.
• Induction into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

Personal Life and Death

In 1915, while a student at Wilberforce, Still married Grace Bundy. The couple had four children and divorced in 1939. That same year, Still married concert pianist Verna Arvey.

Still died in Los Angeles in December of 1978 at the age of 83.