Music Store

Released internationally on the Naxos American Classics Series in March 2005, the Fort Smith Symphony’s recording of the music of American composer William Grant Still has been a critical and commercial success. Reviewed by over fifteen critics from Ireland, Italy, Germany, the UK and America, the recording has brought national and international attention to the Fort Smith Symphony, the city of Fort Smith and the wonderful music of Arkansas composer and “Dean of African-American Composers”, William Grant Still. For more information about this compact disc, contact the Fort Smith Symphony or music retail and online stores everywhere. To learn more about the Naxos label and its thousands of CD titles, log on to www.naxos.com. This compact disc can also be purchased at the Symphony office.

Review Highlights:

ClassicsToday.com: “Jeter’s involvement trumps Jarvi’s (Detroit Symphony) mere efficiency… [The Fort Smith Symphony] should put together a series of Still programs over the next few years and make this a series [of recordings]… this very enjoyable recording.”

Fanfare Magazine (for Record Collectors): “These performances from the Fort Smith Symphony are excellent, committed and excellently prepared under John Jeter’s direction; he seems really under the music’s skin, which is demonstrated in comparison with Neeme Jarvi’s Detroit Symphony recording… Jeter seems more alive (than Jarvi) to Still’s particular personality.  This Naxos release is a winner…”

International Record Review: “…its reading of the symphony can stand up, and more to Jarvi’s in Detroit.  Another feather in the cap of Naxos, American Classics Series.”

MusicWeb International: “This is a great CD.  The playing impressed me greatly.  The Fort Smith Symphony under John Jeter obviously have a great sympathy for this music.”

Absolute Sound: “The feeling is lively and idiomatic…”

RedLudwig.com: “….an excellent CD.”

David’s Review Corner: “…this is just as enjoyable as the Detroit Symphony’s recording of the Afro-American Symphony with Jarvi conducting.”

Baker & Taylor New Releases for Libraries: “…the performances are all excellent.”

Sedicinoni (Italy): “The Fort Smith Symphony’s playing is elegant and they are totally immersed in the music.”


The recently released CD on the Naxos label was recorded in May 2009 at the Arkansas Best Corporation Performing Arts Center. The pieces on the CD are all world-premiere recording of music by William Grant Still. Poem for Orchestra was written in 1944, Symphony No. 4 in 1947 and Symphony No. 5 ‘Western Hemisphere’ in 1945, but revised in 1970. William Grant Still received many honors for his pioneering music for the concert platform, film and television. Still’s most distinctive works use African-American forms, such as the Blues, Spirituals and Jazz, within a neo-romantic idiom. He declared that his Fourth Symphony was ‘intended to represent the spirit of the American people,’ His triumphant Fifth Symphony celebrates ‘the sharing of resources and achievements,’ which the composer saw as the key to America’s greatness. This compact disc can also be purchased at the Symphony office.