Cobb Symphony Performs “Afro-American Symphony” of William Grant Still April 19 & 20

[William Grant Still (Photo is the sole property of William Grant Still Music, and is used with permission.)]

Masterworks #4 - Freedom’s Song
April 19, 2008 • 8 PM
April 20, 2008 • 3 PM
“Join the Cobb Symphony Orchestra, the CSO Chorus and soloists for a spectacular season finale and the triumphant sounds of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and the Afro-American Symphony by William Grant Still. From $15 to $35.” Michael Alexander is Music Director of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra; Bryan Black is CSO Chorus Director. The concert location is the Dozier Centre, 2250 Stilesboro Rd NW, Kennesaw, Georgia.

William Grant Still (1895-1978), was an African American composer, arranger, conductor and oboist. He was born in Woodville, Mississippi but was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas from the age of three months. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com, where he discusses his approach to composing the Afro-American Symphony:

Michael Fleming quotes the composer in the liner notes for Chandos 9154 (1993): “I knew I wanted to write a symphony; I knew that it had to be an American work; and I wanted to demonstrate how the blues, so often considered a lowly expression, could be elevated to the
highest musical level.” The first performances of the Afro-American Symphony were given by the Rochester Philharmonic, with Howard Hanson conducting, on Oct. 28 and 29, 1931.