One of the featured works in our Nov. 7 concert is Plain-Chant for America, a collaboration of composer William Grant Still Jr. and poet Katherine Garrison Chapin. The work premiered in October 1941 in a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Writing during the Jim Crow era, Still was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance and produced nearly 200 symphonies, operas, ballets, choral works, and other pieces. He broke many social barriers to build a career in the predominantly white world of classical music, and his career was filled with many “firsts.” He was the first African-American to conduct a major symphony orchestra, have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, have an opera performed by a major opera company, and have an opera performed on national television. Still was often called the “Dean of African-American Composers.”