It is the mission of the inaugural "Music and the Arts: Still Our Only Future" Conference to bring forth a resurgence of music and the arts in our communities as well as to pay tribute to American classical composer, William Grant Still (1895-1978).

* To inspire global discussion of, and support for, the cultural arts at all educational levels, and to, once again, bring music and the arts to the forefront in our communities.

* To inaugurate a Foundation that will attempt to put music and the arts back in the schools.

* To foster America’s proud multi-ethnic and musical heritage.

* To commemorate the achievements of American classical composer, William Grant Still.

* To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Still’s internationally-renowned work and pioneering composition, “The Afro-American Symphony” (composed in 1929).

* To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the premiere of William Grant Still’s grand opera, Troubled Island (1949).

* To commemorate the upcoming 75th anniversary (2011) of William Grant Still’s triumphant appearance on the Hollywood Bowl’s stage as the first African-American to conduct a major American orchestra (1936).

- Mississippi Arts Commission
- Mississippi Symphony Orchestra
- Mississippi Public Broadcasting
- Natchez Downtown Development Association
- Historic Natchez Foundation
- David Abner Smith of the Woodville Civic Club and Woodville African-American Museum
- The Jackson Advocate
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History
- The Sphinx Foundation