World Premiere Recording of
William Grant Still’s
Music for Violin and Orchestra

Featuring
Violinist Zina Schiff
Conductor Avlana Eisenberg
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Overall, this composer could not have better advocates than what we have
here. The playing of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is, as ever,
superbly accomplished and musically involving, and they are expertly led
by Avlana Eisenberg. Violinist Zina Schiff met Still in her youth and brings
an obvious love and authenticity to the proceedings. And the ever-reliable Naxos label provides excellent recorded sound throughout.
Classical CD Reviews

A peach of an issue, superbly performed, recorded and annotated.
Classical Music Daily

Beautifully lyrical works with engaging melodies and
gorgeous harmonic writing.
Cinemusical Blog

African Dancer dazzles. The California tribute ‘Pastorela’ - previously
recorded in a chamber version - takes on greater heft and drama in Still’s
inviting and textured orchestral language. ‘Serenade’ and the ‘Threnody: In
Memory of Jean Sibelius' round out an enjoyable program that ought to spark more curiosity in this composer.
New York Times

This varied and pleasing program is presented in committed interpretations
in which both violinist Zina Schiff and conductor Avlana Eisenberg do an
exemplary job of bringing this music to the ear in rhetorical and tasteful interpretations.
Pizzicato

The best-known piece here is “Summerland,” the second of Three Visions
(1936), originally written for solo piano. Zina Schiff, who studied privately
with Jascha Heifetz for many years, plays it with elegance and controlled
passion, qualities that mark all her performances on this album. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is under the alert control of Avlana Eisenberg.
Artsfuse.org

An essential listening experience.
North Cotswold Community Radio

Amazing music put on record for the first time ever. A remarkable disc for
several reasons, the music is very beautifully expressive, and it is music that
has been overlooked for far too long. Zina Schiff’s violin playing is exquisite,
while being accompanied by the outstanding Royal Scottish National
Orchestra. The RSNO under the baton of Avlana Eisenberg plays the purely
orchestral pieces as if they have been playing Still’s music for decades. The
Orchestra shows a very clear understanding of what Still is trying to get across is the music on these performances, and the playing is
quite simply perfect!
Classic 107 Radio

Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Avlana
Eisenberg and solo violinist Zina Schiff, the recording offers a beguiling
portrait of his stylistic journey between 1918 and 1965.
BBC Music Magazine
The world premiere recording, William Grant Still: Music for Violin and Orchestra, featuring acclaimed violinist Zina Schiff and conductor Avlana Eisenberg leading the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, on Naxos American Classics (Naxos 8.559867) includes world premiere orchestral versions of Summerland, Violin Suite, Pastorela, American Suite, Threnody, Serenade, Fanfare for the 99th Fighter Squadron, Can’t You Line ‘Em and Quit Dat Fool’nish.
William Grant Still
WILLIAM GRANT STILL
William Grant Still (1895-1978), known as the “Dean of Afro-American Composers,” was part of the Harlem Renaissance and composed nearly 200 works including nine operas, five symphonies, and four ballets. His work combines Classical forms with jazz and blues idioms and was inspired by the rich tradition of African American spirituals. He was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, to compose a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, and to write an opera performed by a major opera company. Famed conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Howard Hanson, and Arthur Fiedler showcased his music, and his many awards included three Guggenheim Fellowships. Still worked as performer and arranger with W. C. Handy (“The Father of the Blues”) and composed the score for the 1939 Bing Crosby movie Pennies from Heaven. He won the National Federation of Music Clubs Prize for the best composition dedicated to the United Nations and was commissioned to write the theme music for New York’s 1939 World’s Fair. Still hoped “that my music may serve a purpose larger than mere music. If it will help in some way to bring about better interracial understanding in America and in other countries, then I will feel that the work is justified.” 
ZINA SCHIFF
Award-winning Heifetz-protégé, violinist Zina Schiff has performed, recorded, and given masterclasses on five continents. In the United States, she has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Rochester, Brooklyn, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, among others. Her discography of sixteen albums includes many world premiere recordings of rare American and Jewish music, as well as standards such as the Brahms Sonatas and Concerti of Bach, Vivaldi, Barber, and Sibelius. Her eclectic career has included recording the solo violin score, composed by Maurice Jarre, for the MGM movie, The Fixer, as well as recording back-ups in Nashville for artists such as Chet Atkins and Johnny Cash. She has appeared on the PBS series Nova and on major radio broadcasts throughout the world. Her previous NAXOS releases include award-winning albums Cecil Burleigh: Music for Violin and Piano and Ernest Bloch: Concerto and Suites with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Winner of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Award and the San Francisco Symphony Foundation Award, Schiff is also a grant recipient from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music. While at the Curtis Institute, she won both the Junior and Senior Auditions of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Musical America selected her as an Outstanding Young Artist. A long-time advocate of William Grant Still’s music, she recorded six of his pieces on her 1997 4-Tay recording, Here’s One, including Summerland and Quit Dat Fool’nish, both of which are featured on this NAXOS release in their orchestral versions.
AVLANA EISENBERG
Acclaimed conductor Avlana Eisenberg is a passionately committed advocate for emerging and underrepresented American composers and new orchestral works. Hailed as “an imaginative and enterprising conductor,” she is Music Director of the Boston Chamber Symphony and has led orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Her discography includes recordings with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and forthcoming with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists. She has led ensembles at noted summer festivals in Edinburgh, Aspen, and Sandpoint, and at such venues as the Mozarteum, Hungarian Radio Hall, and Granada Theater. In 2021, Eisenberg and the Boston Chamber Symphony developed the “Sounds of America” series to showcase the life and music of underrepresented American composers; their debut video features a multimedia performance of “Can’t You Line ‘Em” by William Grant Still. Recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to work with the Paris National Opera, Eisenberg attended Yale University, where she received the V. Browne Irish Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts and was selected as a Top Ten College Winner by Glamour Magazine. She earned graduate degrees in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan and the Peabody Institute. A violinist by training, her primary teacher was Heifetz protégé Erick Friedman. 
ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
Founded in 1891, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) is one of Europe’s leading symphony orchestras. Many renowned conductors have contributed to its success, including Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Alexander Gibson, Neeme Järvi and Thomas Søndergård. The RSNO performs across Scotland and appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms in addition to international tours. The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its discography of over 200 recordings, winning a 2020 Gramophone Classical Music Award for Chopin’s Piano Concertos, two Diapason d’Or awards for Symphonic Music, and eight GRAMMY Awards nominations.
The complete liner notes can be found here
For more information, please contact Genevieve Spielberg
at 908-608-1325 or genevieve@gsiartists.com