William Grant Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi, on May 11, 1895, and died in Los Angeles, California, on December 3, 1978. The first performance of the Afro-American Symphony took place on October 29, 1931, with Howard Hanson conducting the Rochester Philharmonic. The Afro-American Symphony is scored for three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, drum set, triangle, vibraphone, tenor banjo, celesta, and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty minutes.

The Afro-American Symphony was one of the early large-scale compositions by William Grant Still. Still, often referred to as the “Dean of African American composers,” noted:

"Like so many works which are important to their creators, the Afro-American Symphony was forming over a period of years. Themes were occurring to me, were duly noted, and an overall form was slowly growing. 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."

American composer and conductor Howard Hanson led the Rochester Philharmonic in the Afro-American Symphony’s 1931 premiere. It marked the first time that a major American orchestra had performed a symphony by an African American composer. The work received numerous further performances, including a 1935 concert by the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.

The Afro-American Symphony is in four movements, each with a subtitle provided by the composer: “Longing,” “Sorrow,” Humor,” and “Aspiration.” Still masterfully synthesizes the blues-oriented material with a traditional symphonic ensemble, augmented by such instruments as the banjo, vibraphone, and drum set. The result is a quintessentially American work, beautiful and uplifting, that sounds as fresh as the day it premiered.