Rae Linda Brown (October 7, 1953 – August 20, 2017) was an American musicologist. As a scholar, archivist and editor Rae Linda Brown conducted research on topics in

American classical music American classical music is music written in the United States in the European classical music tradition. In many cases, beginning in the 18th century, it has been influenced by American folk music styles; and from the 20th century to the presen ...

, Black Music and African-American classical music. Brown authored books and academic treatises on

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical music, classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Mus ...

and

William Grant Still William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works fo ...

. As a professor and administrator, Brown led in the creation of new academic programs at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

, Loyola Marymount University, and Pacific Lutheran University. Brown wrote the groundbreaking biography, ''Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price'', which was published posthumously in 2020. Brown grew up in Hartford Connecticut and earned degrees at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Some of Brown's graduate work at Yale catalogued sheet music and scores in the James Weldon Johnson memorial collection at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and comprises Volume 23 of the Garland Critical Studies on Black Life and Culture. Brown's 1987 dissertation focused on composer Florence Price. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s Brown rediscovered, edited, and published critical analyses of

's music. Brown's work in this area became the basis for a wider recognition of Price's role in and contribution to American music. This recognition contributed to the discovery of previously unknown scores that are now housed at the University of Arkansas. Brown was a professor at University of Michigan and The University of California, Irvine. While at Irvine, Brown served as the Robert and Marjorie Rawlins Chair of the Department of Music, oversaw completion of a new building for the department, the development of new academic programs in jazz, and the creation of a doctoral program in Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology. From 2008 to 2015 Brown was the Vice President for Undergraduate Education at Loyola Marymount University; from 2016 until her death Brown was the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Pacific Lutheran University. In 2017 Brown received the inaugural Willis C. Patterson Research Award for her work in the area of African-American Art Song.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Rae Linda 1953 births 2017 deaths American musicologists University of Michigan faculty Yale University alumni University of Connecticut alumni American women academics African-American women academics People from Hartford, Connecticut American academic administrators Pacific Lutheran University faculty University of California, Irvine faculty Loyola Marymount University faculty Women academic administrators 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women