Collections acquired through acquisitions, donations or bequests over more than 50 years form the main holdings and are mostly of South African but also of international significance.
[4] These included the literary estate of internationally celebrated composer and conductor Albert Coates and the music library of bibliophile Michael Scott.
DOMUS also continued to acquire the archives of important Western art music composers, like Graham Newcater, John Simon, Stefans Grové, Hubert du Plessis, Christopher Langford James and Michael Blake.
These included: Seminars hosting musicologists Marie Jorritsma and Barbara Titus (2008); a series of conversations and recordings of the isiXhosa bow player Madosini (Latozi Mpahleni) with composer Hans Huyssen (2009); analysis workshops with composer Hannes Taljaard (2009); a simposium to celebrate Kevin Volans's sixtieth birthday (2009) with contributions by pianist Jill Richards, musicologist Christine Lucia, and philosopher Jean-Pierre de la Parte, a performance of Zim Ngqawana and Kyle Shepherd in a scrap yard in Stellenbosch to showcase Aryan Kaganof's film An Exhibition of Vandalizim (2010); lectures by Raymond Holden on 'The Modern Orchestra' (2010); a piano recital by pianist Daniel-Ben Pienaar as part of the joint IMS/SASRIM conference at Stellenbosch University (2010); round table discussions The State of the Discipline (chaired by Christopher Ballantine) and Music and Exile (chaired by Jean-Pierre de la Porte) at the IMS/SASRIM conference in Stellenbosch (2010), lecture series by Jean-Pierre de la Porte entitled 'New Horizons in Composition and Research' (2010); a screening of Aryan Kaganof's and Dylan Valley's film The Uprising of Hangberg in Kayamandi in Stellenbosch and a recording of Hangberg reggae band, Blaze, at Milestone Studio's in Cape Town (2010).
Before its formal establishment as a Special Collection in the Stellenbosch University Library and Information Service in 2016, under the headship of Muller DOMUS functioned as both a music heritage preservation and a research initiative.