Composing a Collection: the Allan Blank Papers

Allan Blank’s life began on December 27, 1925 in New York City. As a composer, Allan Blank was known for his contemporary pieces, utilizing instruments that often seemed strange on the surface, but would work beautifully together. Not only was Blank a talented composer with over 60 published works, he was also a dedicated professor. Teaching at several institutions, the composer ended his teaching career at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1996 to focus more on writing music. Allan Blank was married to Margot Dreyfuss Blank a painter and photographer.  Sadly, he passed away on November 12, 2013 from a brain tumor.

Currently housed at the Old Dominion University Special Collections and University Archives, the Allan Blank Papers Collection spans from 1952 to 2013 and encompasses over 40 boxes of unprocessed materials. Primarily comprised of working sketches, scores, notebooks, audiovisual and ephemera.

For more information, please contact:

(757) 683-5350

libspecialcollections@odu.edu