William Grant Still

composer · African-American history · classical music · Harlem Renaissance

Musical powerhouse. William Grant Still composed almost 200 works, including five symphonies, four ballets, and nine operas. That's enough music to fill concert halls for months.

From Mississippi roots. Still was born in Mississippi and grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he first discovered his love of music and learned to write his own pieces.

Studied with masters. He attended two prestigious music schools and learned from famous composers George Whitefield Chadwick and Edgard Varèse, who taught him how to create innovative sounds.

Harlem Renaissance star. Still worked closely with important African-American writers and artists during the Harlem Renaissance, a magical time in the 1920s and 1930s when Black culture exploded with creativity in New York City.

Many musical styles. He wrote symphonies, ballets, operas, choral music, and solo pieces, showing he could create beautiful music in almost any form you could imagine.