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27-518: The orchestra was founded in 1930 by Ferdinand Schaefer, a local violin professor, with the help of Leonard A. Strauss. Strauss became the first president of the ISO. In 1937, Fabien Sevitzky was hired as the orchestra's first music director, as the musicians became fully professional, paid a weekly salary for a 20-week season. The orchestra quickly ascended to national prominence, issuing a series of phonograph recordings on RCA Victor and Capitol Records in

54-463: A bachelor of science degree program at Wilberforce University , a historically black college in Ohio. Still became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He conducted the university band, learned to play various instruments, and started to compose and to do orchestrations. He left Wilberforce without graduating. Upon receiving a small amount of money left to him by his father, he began studying at

81-545: A major opera company, and have an opera performed on national television. The papers of Still and his second wife, the librettist and writer Verna Arvey , are currently held by the University of Arkansas. William Grant Still Jr. was born on May 11, 1895, in Woodville, Mississippi . He was the son of two teachers, Carrie Lena Fambro Still Shepperson (1872–1927) and William Grant Still Sr. (1871–1895). His father

108-540: A student of George Whitefield Chadwick and then Edgard Varèse . Because of his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance . Often referred to as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers," Still was the first American composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera . He

135-476: A work by an African American was performed by a major orchestra. By the end of World War II, the piece had been performed in orchestras located in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and London. During this time, the symphony was arguably the most popular of any composed by an American so far. As a result of a close professional relationship with Hanson; many of Still's compositions were performed for

162-402: Is known primarily for his first symphony, Afro-American Symphony (1930), which was, until 1950, the most widely performed symphony composed by an American. Still was able to become a leading figure in the field of American classical music as the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra , have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, have an opera performed by

189-492: The Oberlin Conservatory of Music . Still worked for the school assisting the janitor, along with a few other small jobs outside of the school, yet still struggled financially. When Professor Lehmann asked Still why he wasn't studying composition, Still told him honestly that he couldn't afford to, leading to George Whitfield Andrews agreeing to teach him composition without charge. He also studied privately with

216-464: The pit orchestra for Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake 's musical, Shuffle Along and another pit with Sophie Tucker , Artie Shaw , and Paul Whiteman . Under Henderson, he joined Henry Pace 's Pace Phonograph Company, known as Black Swan Records . Later in the 1920s, Still served as the arranger of Yamekraw , a "Negro Rhapsody", composed by the Harlem stride pianist James P. Johnson . In

243-474: The 1930s, Still worked as an arranger of popular music, composing works for popular NBC Radio broadcasts like Willard Robison 's Deep River Hour and Paul Whiteman's Old Gold Show. Still's first major orchestral composition, Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American" , was performed in 1931 by the Rochester Philharmonic , conducted by Howard Hanson . It was the first time the complete score of

270-461: The 1940s and early 1950s. Some of the orchestra's earliest recordings have been reissued. In 1956, Izler Solomon was appointed music director. The orchestra toured nationally and produced a series of international salute concerts. This series won a US State Department Award. The orchestra performed in such venues as Clowes Hall on the campus of Butler University and Caleb Mills Hall. John Nelson became music director in 1976. During his tenure,

297-540: The 2020–2021 season. In May 2021, the orchestra announced the appointment of Jun Märkl as its artistic advisor for the 2021–2022 season. Märkl had first guest-conducted the orchestra in August 2000 in a "Symphony on the Prairie" concert. On January 23, 2024, the orchestra announced the appointment of Märkl as its next music director, effective with the 2024–2025 season, with an initial contract of five seasons. Märkl took

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324-665: The United States Navy to serve in World War I in 1918, and eventually moved to Harlem after the war, where he continued to work for Handy. During this time, Still was involved with many cultural figures of the Harlem Renaissance including the likes of Langston Hughes , Alain Locke , Arna Bontemps , and Countee Cullen . He recorded with Fletcher Henderson 's Dance Orchestra in 1921, and later played in

351-612: The boy greatly enjoyed. The two attended a number of performances by musicians on tour. His maternal grandmother Anne Fambro sang African-American spirituals to him. Still started violin lessons in Little Rock at the age of 15. He taught himself to play the clarinet , saxophone, oboe , double bass, cello and viola , and showed a great interest in music. At 16 years old, he graduated as class valedictorian from M. W. Gibbs High School in Little Rock in 1911. His mother wanted him to go to medical school, so Still pursued

378-629: The ceremony because interracial marriage was illegal in California. They had a daughter, Judith Anne, and a son, Duncan. Still's granddaughter is journalist Celeste Headlee , a daughter of Judith Anne. On December 1, 1976, his home was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #169. It is located at 1262 Victoria Avenue in Oxford Square, Los Angeles . In 1916, Still worked in Memphis for W.C. Handy 's band. He then joined

405-464: The couple subsequently moved to Miami to take up faculty positions at the University of Miami while his wife also gave private harp lessons. He guest-conducted the University's orchestra soon after his arrival, and became its permanent conductor in 1963. He championed the music of William Grant Still , from whom he commissioned works including Threnody: In Memory of Jan Sibelius , and conducted

432-792: The first time in Rochester. In 1934, Still moved to Los Angeles after receiving his first Guggenheim Fellowship , allowing him to start work on the first of his nine operas, Blue Steel . Two years later, Still conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra in a performance of his own works. Still arranged music for films such as Pennies from Heaven , starring Bing Crosby and Madge Evans , and Lost Horizon , starring Ronald Colman , Jane Wyatt and Sam Jaffe ,

459-404: The latter of which, he arranged the music of Dimitri Tiomkin . Still was also hired to arrange music for the 1943 film Stormy Weather , but left because " Twentieth-Century Fox 'degraded colored people.'" For the 1939 New York World's Fair , Still composed Song of a City for the exhibit "Democracity," which played continuously during the fair's run. Despite writing music for the fair, he

486-474: The modern French composer Edgard Varèse and the American composer George Whitefield Chadwick . On October 4, 1915, Still married Grace Bundy, whom he had met while they were both at Wilberforce. They had a son, William III, and three daughters, Gail, June, and Caroline. They separated in 1932 and divorced February 6, 1939. On February 8, 1939, he married pianist Verna Arvey , driving to Tijuana for

513-986: The negative reviews it received. Still was also the first African American to conduct a major orchestra in the Deep South , doing so in 1955 where he conducted the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. Still's works were performed internationally by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra , the London Symphony Orchestra , the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra , and the BBC Orchestra . He died in Los Angeles in 1978. Three years after his death, A Bayou Legend became

540-480: The orchestra began a 52-week season and made a series of recordings on the Koss Classics label. Leppard returned the orchestra to Europe for two more tours in 1993 and 1997. Leppard became conductor laureate of the orchestra following the conclusion of his tenure in 2001. In 2009, the ISO announced its first-ever ensemble-in-residence, Time for Three . In April 2010, Krzysztof Urbański first guest conducted

567-658: The orchestra relocated to the renovated Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis, which re-opened on October 12, 1984. Nelson brought the ISO back to the airwaves on NPR and PBS , as well as concerts in Carnegie Hall in 1989 and 1991 and at the Kennedy Center . In 1987, he took the orchestra on its first-ever foreign tour in Germany , with concertmaster Hidetaro Suzuki. Raymond Leppard succeeded Nelson as music director, in 1987. Under Leppard's direction,

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594-453: The orchestra. He was subsequently engaged for a return appearance in June 2010 at the orchestra's summer series, "Symphony on the Prairie". Based on these two appearances, the ISO named Urbański its 7th music director, effective September 1, 2011, with an initial contract of 4 years. In May 2019, the orchestra announced the scheduled conclusion of Urbański's tenure as music director at the close of

621-509: The position until 1955. He led the orchestra in a series of recordings for RCA Victor from 1941 to 1946 & for Capitol Records up to 1953, which were issued on 78-rpm and 33-1/3-rpm discs. The orchestra was recorded in the Murat Theatre. Among the more unusual recordings were of Tchaikovsky 's first symphony (recorded March 19, 1946) and Manfred (recorded January 27, 1942). He married harpist Mary Spaulding in 1959, and

648-935: The premiere of Still's opera Highway 1, U.S.A. in 1960. He was music director of the Greater Miami Philharmonic Orchestra from 1956 to 1962, and died suddenly in 1967. His wife, who later became Mary Spaulding Portanova, survived him. William Grant Still William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies , four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works , art songs , chamber music , and solo works. Born in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas , Still attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music as

675-697: The title of music director-designate with immediate effect. Fabien Sevitzky Fabien Sevitzky (September 29, 1891 in Vyshny Volochyok – February 3, 1967 in Athens ) was a Russian-born American conductor. He was the nephew of renowned double-bass virtuoso and longtime Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitzky . Sevitzky became music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1937 after he first conducted it in winter 1936, and remained in

702-442: Was a partner in a grocery store and performed as a local bandleader. William Grant Still Sr. died when his infant son was three months old. Still's mother moved with him to Little Rock, Arkansas , where she taught high school English. She met, and in 1904 married, Charles B. Shepperson, who nurtured his stepson William's musical interests by taking him to operettas and buying Red Seal recordings of classical music, which

729-422: Was unable to attend the fair without police protection except on "Negro Day" . In 1949, his opera Troubled Island about Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti, was performed by the New York City Opera a decade after its original composition. It was the first opera by an American to be performed by the company and the first by an African American to be performed by a major company. Still was, however, upset by

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