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ABSTRACT
H. Charles Grawemeyer (1912-1993) dedicated funds to the Dwight Anderson Memorial Music Library to support the Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition. With his support, the Grawemeyer Collection has grown into a special collection of scores, sound recordings, and information files for the Award's nominees since 1985. Over the past thirty-five years, more than two thousand composers have been nominated for the award, thereby expanding this unique special collection to thousands of scores, sound recordings, and information files. This article provides statistics on physical volumes, publishers, instrumentation, and genres that are included in the collection so that individuals can grasp the scope of the collection, as well as the award, and to generate interest in the multitude of scholarship possibilities. Also included are statistics on the nominees of the Grawemeyer Award, including nationality, gender, and their nominators.
INTRODUCTION
The Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition has become one of the most prestigious prizes in contemporary classical music. Since 1985, the award has provided between $100,000 to $200,000 to each of thirtythree composers for outstanding achievement in a large-scale musical genre or a musical work considered large in scope. H. Charles Grawemeyer (1912-1993), a successful industrialist and investor from Louisville, was intrigued by the concept of ideas and the process toward bestowing the Nobel Prizes. As a result, he established the Grawemeyer Awards with a $9 million endowment fund. In addition to the award in music composition, he also provided for awards in religion, education, psychology, and world order.
In early 1986, after the inaugural award cycle, Grawemeyer stated that funds remaining after the first year's expenses had been met could be used by the University of Louisville's Music Library.1 This funding was the inspiration for establishing the Grawemeyer Collection of Contemporary Music housed in the Dwight Anderson Memorial Music Library in the University of Louisville's School of Music (hereinafter Music Library). Whereas the intent of the collection-to collect the nomination materials of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition-remains the same, over the years its physical size has grown immensely. The collection's management has also changed over the last thirty-three years since officially being established in 1987.2 Each year an average of 150 compositions are nominated for the Grawemeyer Award, representing a diverse range of contemporary...