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Music Monday | The Blues, Elevated | September 28, 2026
Some music makes history quietly. William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony did it out loud. When the Rochester Philharmonic premiered it in 1931, it became the first symphony by an African American composer ever performed by a major American orchestra.
Once an arranger for blues legend W.C. Handy, Still wanted to prove the blues could be “elevated to the highest musical level.” The dean of African American Composers did just that, bringing blues, jazz, and spirituals into the concert hall.
The movement you’ll hear live in concert on Nov. 7 is the most joyful. It struts on syncopation and backbeat, bright, playful, and full of the swing of American popular music.
Pianists Glen Inanga and Rebeca Omordia perform it as part of Timeless Harmonies, our 40th anniversary season opener celebrating the legacy of Black classical composers, at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. Here’s a taste, arranged for piano four hands:
Join us on Nov. 7 to celebrate 40 years of two pianos
With music that made history
