University Park, Pa. -- The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State will have a new source of funding for classical music thanks to the generosity of longtime supporter and Penn State Artists Series Director Nina C. Brown. The estate of Brown, who died on March 28, has established a $100,000 Nina C. Brown Endowment for the Performing Arts.
The endowment provides continuing support for presentations of Beethoven’s string quartets and other chamber music at the Center for the Performing Arts.
“Nina Brown and I talked when she last visited campus in 2006 about her interest in establishing an endowment to support future presentations of Beethoven string quartets,” said George Trudeau, director of the Center for the Performing Arts. “Nina had a passion for chamber music and particularly the Beethoven quartets. I am touched that Nina included a provision in her estate to put this endowment in place. The Nina C. Brown Endowment will ensure that future generations have the opportunity to hear these great works and is a truly fitting legacy for this arts pioneer.”
Brown was born in Paris on Nov. 14, 1922. She lived in England and was an officer transport and ambulance driver during the later part of World War II. In 1945, she met and married Raymond H. Brown, who went on to become director of choral music at Penn State. Together the couple shared a love of music, theater, dance, poetry and travel until he died on Sept. 4, 2001.
The Center for the Performing Arts has its roots in the Artists Series, which began in 1957. From its inception and for nearly three decades until her retirement in 1985, Brown directed the presenting organization. The first season featured appearances by the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. Since then, the Artists Series and the Center for the Performing Arts -- formed in 1985 from a merger of the Artists Series and Auditorium Management -- have presented a who’s who of 20th- and 21st-century music, theater and dance artists from six continents.
For more information about the endowment or to contribute to it, contact Dave Shaffer, assistant director for special programs at the Center for the Performing Arts, at 814-863-1167 or DaveShaffer@psu.edu. Learn about the Center for the Performing Arts at http://www.cpa.psu.edu/ online.