Saturday, July 11, 2009

Lecture on William Grant Still '...was when I got turned on to his incredible body of work.'

[William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony; Fort Smith Symphony; John Jeter, Conductor; Naxos 8.559174 (2005)]

The Guest Book at AfriClassical.com received this entry today: “What a great site! I was privileged to hear a lecture by Judith Still (William Grant Still's daughter) when I was at the University of Michigan in the mid-80s, and that was when I got turned on to his incredible body of work. Thanks for this wonderful resource - more people should learn about the huge body of compositions by our Black American classical musician colleagues. Thank you! Mark Benedyk, Chicago, IL”

The recorded repertoire of
William Grant Still is about to increase, as AfriClassical posted on June 22, 2009: “Fort Smith Symphony Records Premieres of William Grant Still's 4th & 5th Symphonies on Naxos.” We wrote, in part: “Judith Anne Still recently informed AfriClassical of a forthcoming recording of music of her father, William Grant Still, by the Fort Smith Symphony, whose Music Director and Conductor is John Jeter.” “The new disc is also a Naxos American Classics CD, and will feature William Grant Still's Symphony No. 4 (Autochthonous) (1947), Symphony No. 5 (Western Hemisphere) (1945, 1958) and Poem, for orchestra (1944) (12:30).” [William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where a complete Works List by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma is also found]






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