Media Billie Holiday + Strange Fruit
Billie Holiday had a hit record with the song 鈥淪trange Fruit鈥 in the 1930s, bringing light to the horror of lynching in the American South.
William Grant Still Composer, Arranger, Conductor
-
Born
May 11, 1895
-
Died
December 3, 1978
-
Country
United States of America
A man of many talents, William Grant Still left his medical studies to pursue a career in music. He taught himself to play every instrument in the orchestra, from violin to cello and from oboe to saxophone. The scale of his musical knowledge paved the way for Still to become a skilled and prolific composer.
In 1931, with the premiere performance of Still’s “Afro-American Symphony,” he became the first African American composer to write a symphony performed by an American orchestra.
Over the next 20 years, 38 orchestras in the United States and Europe would have the honor of playing “Afro-American Symphony.”
Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American Symphony”—William Grant Still. Performed by the Tampa Bay Symphony. Mark Sforzini, Music Director. Feb 5, 2023. Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Still is best known as a composer, but he played a range of other roles in the music industry. In 1916, he served as an arranger for blues musician W. C. Handy. In New York, Still played alongside jazz greats Fletcher Henderson and James P. Johnson in the Harlem Symphony. He was later named music director of the Black Swan jazz label, a subsidiary of Harry Pace’s Phonograph Company, which billed itself as “The Only Genuine Colored Record.”
In the creative crossovers that typified the Harlem Renaissance, Still frequently collaborated with leading Black intellectuals from other disciplines. After Alain Locke suggested that Katharine Garrison Chapin’s wrenching poem about a lynching could and should be set to music, Still composed the cantata “And They Lynched Him on a Tree.” He also wrote the melody for poems by Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. “Afro-American Symphony” included poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
On many of Still’s projects, a compatible music partner was conveniently close. In 1936, he composed the music for the ballet Lenox Avenue, which used dance to depict aspects of Harlem life. The script for the ballet was contributed by another accomplished musician, Verna Arvey—Still’s wife.
 I n t e r s e c t i o n s |
|
 |
He played in the orchestra for Shuffle Along. |
 |
Florence Mills sang “Levee Land,” a Still composition. |
 |
Langston Hughes wrote the libretto for Still’s opera Troubled Island. |
 |
He set Countee Cullen’s poem to music in Songs of Separation. |
 |
Alain Locke asked Still to write the choral ballet Sahdji (1931). |
 |
|
Video Bio
Video Bio
Related Resources
Media Jason Moran: In the Studio
Learn the basics of jazz music and how the art form works. Along with his band, Jason Moran shows you how jazz is more like skateboarding and football than you would think, as well as plays original and classic jazz standards.
Media Jazz in DC
From Fairmont Street to U Street, from the Howard Theater to the Bohemian Caverns, take a tour through jazz history with Billy Taylor and Frank Wess, who lead listeners through their hometown鈥檚 music scene in this seven-part audio series.
Media Swing! Swing! Swing!
This series, hosted by Connaitre Miller of Howard University, explores why Swing was the most popular dance music in America and how it is still alive today in dance halls, clubs and movies
Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning
Eric Friedman
Director, Digital Learning
Kenny Neal
Manager, Digital Education Resources
Tiffany A. Bryant
Manager, Operations and Audience Engagement
JoDee Scissors
Content Specialist, Digital Learning
Connect with us!
Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education. The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation; Annenberg Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Bank of America; Bender Foundation, Inc.; Capital One; Carter and Melissa Cafritz Trust; Carnegie Corporation of New York; DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; Estée Lauder; Exelon; Flocabulary; Harman Family Foundation; The Hearst Foundations; the Herb Alpert Foundation; the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The King-White Family Foundation and Dr. J. Douglas White; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Little Kids Rock; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation;
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Music Theatre International; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; Newman’s Own Foundation; Nordstrom; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives; Prince Charitable Trusts; Soundtrap; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; UnitedHealth Group; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Dennis & Phyllis Washington; and Wells Fargo. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts.
Social perspectives and language used to describe diverse cultures, identities, experiences, and historical context or significance may have changed since this resource was produced. Kennedy Center Education is committed to reviewing and updating our content to address these changes. If you have specific feedback, recommendations, or concerns, please contact us at [email protected].