born May 11, 1895, Woodville, Miss., U.S.
died Dec. 3, 1978, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. composer.
He initially intended to be a doctor but instead studied music at Oberlin College, learning clarinet, oboe, and violin. He studied composition with George Chadwick (18541931) and Edgard Varèse . In the 1920s he worked as an arranger for the dance-band leader Paul Whiteman and for the blues composer W.C. Handy . Still's early style was avant-garde ( From the Black Belt , 1926), but from 0441; 1930 he sought to develop a distinctive African American art music in five symphonies (including his Afro-American Symphony , 1931), ballets, operas, and choral and solo vocal works.