Pat Brown with violinist Becca Kasdan, one of many young musicians who she sponsored over the years. Photo by Niles Singer

Patricia Crawford Brown told stories about eating oysters with Julia Child and is said to have known every restaurant in New York. She also could sing any Broadway tune and regularly attended the Metropolitan Opera.

A founding editor at Bon Appetit and the editor-in-chief of Cuisine, Brown had a groundbreaking career in food writing, but later in life, her greatest passion became music education. And as a resident of Brunswick, the Bowdoin International Music Festival was the beneficiary.

“She was highly cultured, and her idea of culture was not an elitist thing,” said her friend Lorna Flynn. “Any artistic endeavor she was supportive of.”

Brown died in May at the age of 90, but she’ll continue to support students of the arts indefinitely through her $3.7 million gift to the festival – the largest donation it’s ever received. The money will go toward the organization’s endowment and benefit student scholarships, allowing young classical musicians from around the world to come to Brunswick for six weeks in the summer to learn from experts in the discipline.

Before coming to Maine, Brown was living in New York City with her husband, John Lee Brady, who was a senior vice president at Seagram and Sons. The pair moved to Brunswick in 2001, when Brady’s health began to decline, and Brown quickly became involved with the Bowdoin International Music Festival.

“She was a music lover through and through,” said festival Executive Director Daniel Nitsch. “She didn’t play music herself, actually, but she always loved music. She’d go to nearly every concert we held here on campus.”

She also was known for her seat in Studzinski Hall, the recital facility where students perform.

“Pat had the same seat every night,” Nitsch said. “This is the first year she hasn’t been sitting in that seat for over a decade.”

Christine Burns Rudalevige, a food writer – and Press Herald columnist – who lives in Brunswick, said she and Brown became fast friends when they met 10 years ago, and the two of them would take “Thelma and Louise” style road trips together – to New York, Montreal or the Berkshires.

Seat L13 at Studzinski Recital Hall is where Pat Brown always sat. Brown left the festival $3.7 million after her death in May. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“We connected on a food level, a humor level,” Rudalevige said. “She was much more into music than I ever was, but that always brought such a joy to both of us. And she wanted the festival to be her legacy.”

About 10 years ago, when Brown became one of the festival’s 25 trustees, she made a pledge to donate a large sum to the organization, to be given after her death. Last year, she was honored for her dedication to raising scholarship funds for students.

The festival, which this year wraps up Friday, was established in 1964, each year hosting students from over 20 countries and almost every state. They spend the summer studying with renowned professors and guest artists from places like The Juilliard School and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

NEXT GENERATION SUPPORT

“It’s an opportunity for (professors) to meet the next generation of musicians who are entering more of the conservatory level environment in future years,” Nitsch said.

The young musicians also participate in free events like master classes, community concerts, composer lectures and other student performances.

Dominic Doutney, left, and Sebastian Gonzalez Mora before a performance in the Young Artists Concert at Studzinski Recital Hall, a part of 60th Anniversary Season of the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Dominic Doutney, a 28-year-old British pianist and 2024 program fellow, said he was grateful for the chance to come to Brunswick.

“(This is) a wonderful opportunity to meet other like-minded musicians of all different instruments and perform chamber music with them, and get to know them as individuals,” said Doutney, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in musical arts at Northwestern University. “These people could well be my future colleagues or friends. These kind of relationships are so important because it’s quite a small world, the classical music world.”

Nitsch said 1,500 students applied for 300 spots this year. Tuition for the program is $8,400, but about 70% receive at least some scholarship money. The festival’s 25 fellows are fully funded.

Last year, the organization gave $550,000 in scholarships. Brown’s donation will ensure that students continue to receive that support for many years to come.

“She didn’t make this gift only because she enjoyed a Beethoven sonata at a concert 10 years ago,” Nitsch said. “She made this gift because, for her and for many people, the organization is much more than a music school and concert series.”

Rudalevige said she will always associate the festival with Brown.

“She just lived for those six weeks,” she said.