Today In Black History: William Grant Still, the Dean of African American composers
He achieved many "firsts" and proved that African American classical music belonged.
Issue #964 Today In Black History, Wednesday, December 3, 2025
William Grant Still Jr. stands as one of the most significant figures in American classical music history. Born on May 11, 1895, in Woodville, Mississippi, and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Still became known as the “Dean of African American Composers”—a title that reflects not only his prolific output but also his groundbreaking achievements in breaking racial barriers within the classical music establishment.
The Music of William Grant Still and Kurt Weill will be presented at the Detroit Opera House on Sunday, December 7 (2:30 pm), Thursday, December 11 (7:30 pm), and Saturday, December 13 (7:30 pm). Find out more and get your tickets here.
Journey into the soul of America with Detroit Opera’s inspiring double-bill. In Highway 1, USA, William Grant Still, the “Dean of African American composers,” paints a portrait of a family navigating the promises and pressures of the American Dream. It is paired with Kurt Weill’s folk-inspired Down in the Valley, a newly staged production and premiere about love and sacrifice.
William Grant Still was born into a culturally rich family with African American, Native American, and European heritage. His father, a musician who had taught music at Alabama A&M College, died when William was an infant. His mother, a schoolteacher, moved the family to Little Rock, where she and those around him nurtured his early fascination with music.
Young William began taking formal violin lessons and demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for music. He also taught himself to play the clarinet, saxophone, oboe, viola, cello, and double bass—an extraordinary range of instruments that would serve him well throughout his career.
At age seventeen, a transformative moment occurred when his stepfather, a railway office worker, introduced him to opera through a phonograph recording. This experience profoundly influenced Still’s artistic direction and sparked his ambition to compose serious classical music.
Still’s formal musical education began at Wilberforce University in Ohio, where he initially pursued a career in medicine before shifting his focus entirely to music. He continued his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, one of the most prestigious music schools in America. During the 1920s, Still became deeply involved in the Harlem Renaissance, the extraordinary flowering of African American art, literature, and music centered in New York City.
During this period, Still worked as an arranger and orchestrator, collaborating with notable figures in the African American cultural movement. He arranged music for various artists and ensembles, gaining practical experience in orchestration while developing his distinctive compositional voice. This work provided both financial stability and invaluable training in the craft of composition.
Over his lifetime, William Grant Still composed nearly two hundred works—well over two hundred if his lost early works could be counted. His compositional output was remarkably diverse, including:
Five symphonies
Four ballets
Nine operas
More than thirty choral works
Numerous art songs and chamber music pieces
Solo instrumental works
Arrangements of folk themes, particularly Negro spirituals
William Grant Still’s career is defined by a series of historic achievements that challenged the racial barriers of the classical music world:
First African American Symphony Performance: In 1931, Still’s Symphony No. 1 (also known as the “Afro-American Symphony”) was performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra—the first time a professional American orchestra had performed a symphony by an African American composer. This landmark performance opened doors for future generations of Black classical musicians.
First African American to Conduct a Major Orchestra: In 1936, Still conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of his own music, becoming the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra.
First African American Opera at a Major Company: In 1949, Still’s opera Troubled Island was performed by the New York City Opera, marking the first time a major American opera company had produced a work by an African American composer.
First Nationally Televised Opera by an African American: Still’s opera Bayou Legend was nationally televised in 1981, making it the first opera by an African American composer to reach a national television audience.
These achievements represented significant steps forward for African American artists in classical music and helped establish that Black composers belonged in the concert hall and opera house.
Still’s works incorporated the rhythms and harmonies of jazz and blues, elements often dismissed by the classical music establishment but recognized by Still as essential components of American musical identity.
His most famous work, the Afro-American Symphony, exemplifies his approach. The symphony draws on African American musical traditions while employing the formal structures of European classical music. Rather than viewing these elements as contradictory, Still synthesized them into a coherent artistic statement that honored both traditions.
Still’s music was characterized by:
Lyrical, accessible melodies
Rich harmonic language influenced by jazz and blues
Incorporation of African American folk traditions
Formal structures rooted in European classical tradition
Emotional depth and spiritual resonance
William Grant Still’s family legacy continues through his descendants, including his granddaughter Celeste Headlee, a notable public radio host, journalist, public speaker, and author.
Throughout his life and after his death on December 3, 1978, in Los Angeles, California, William Grant Still has been ranked among the greatest American composers, and his works continue to be performed by orchestras and opera companies worldwide.
William Grant Still demonstrated that African American composers could create serious classical music that rivaled the work of their white counterparts. He proved that Black musical traditions—jazz, blues, spirituals—were not inferior to European classical traditions but rather represented a uniquely American contribution to world music.
As the classical music world grapples with questions of representation, inclusion, and the true scope of American musical heritage, Still’s example—of an artist who persisted despite systemic barriers, who created music of lasting beauty and significance, and who refused to be confined by the limitations others tried to impose—offers both inspiration and instruction.
The music of William Grant Still continues to center audiences in appreciating ideas about Black lived experience, while simultaneously affirming the universal power of great music to move, inspire, and transform.
Today In Black History
In 1847, Frederick Douglass and Martin R. Delaney started “The North Star,” an anti-slavery newspaper.
In 1851, Myrtilla Miller opened the Colored Girls’ School in Washington, D.C. It later merged with Wilson Teacher’s College to become the University of the District of Columbia.
In 1864, the Twenty-fifth Corps, the largest all-Black unit in the history of the U.S. Army, was established in the Army of the James.
In 1951, President Harry Truman appointed a committee to monitor compliance with anti-discrimination provisions in U.S. government contracts and sub-contracts.
In 1962, Edith Sampson was sworn in as the first Black female judge in the state of Illinois.
In 1964, J. Raymond Jones was elected leader of the New York Democratic organization, becoming the first Black person to chair a major Democratic group.
In 1982, Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns of Detroit won the WBC Junior Middleweight title, making him the first Black fighter to win boxing titles in five different weight classes.
