The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, will honor Elliott Carter and Allen Toussaint with the special Trustees Award, the same week the Grammys will be handed out in February. Like the Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, which was also announced today and honors lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium, the Trustees Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity, as determined by a vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees.

Carter, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, is being recognized for his vast body of work as a composer, which continues to grow to this day; Nonesuch will release a four-CD retrospective of his Nonesuch recordings in February. Toussaint is being honored for his multifaceted contribution to the recording industry as a producer, songwriter, arranger, session pianist, and solo artist; his next album is due out on Nonesuch early next year.

Says Neil Portnow, the President and CEO of The Recording Academy, says of this year's recipients of these special awards: "Their outstanding accomplishments, legendary passion and artistry have positively affected our culture and will continue to influence and inspire generations to come."

Carter and Toussaint will receive the Trustees Award in a special, invitation-only ceremony the night before the Grammy ceremony, which will be broadcast live on CBS from Los Angeles on Sunday, February 8, 2009, beginning at 8 PM. In addition to these two special awards, Nonesuch artists and albums have been nominated for a total of 13 Grammys this year.

For more information on the Nonesuch nominees, read the article in the Nonesuch Journal. For the complete list of Grammy nominees, visit grammy.com.