William Grant Still (1895-1978)
“African American Composer, Arranger, Conductor & Oboist
Dean of African American Composers”
http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/still.html

On this date in 1895, William Grant Still was born. He was an African American musician and composer.

Still was the first African American to conduct a major symphony orchestra, the first African-American to have an opera, “Troubled Island” (1949) performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera, “A Bayou Legend,” performed on national television (1981).

https://aaregistry.org/story/william-grant-still-a-symphonic-composer/