Aimed to build the next generation of choral leaders, the Patricia Brown Choral Scholars program will see one new scholar appointed annually, receiving an award of $5,000. The scholar will take on a leadership role within the Collegium Musicum Choir and be acknowledged in the programs of public concerts across the year. 

This will provide invaluable experience for emerging choristers from which to springboard following graduation, and will create a community of scholars over time who will be linked to the creative legacy of Dr Patricia Brown, who was Associate Professor of Music at UNSW and founding director of the choral program.

This program is supported by the generosity of Patricia Brown’s family, in honour of her memory, legacy, and extraordinary musical life at UNSW.

For application information, please visit the UNSW Scholarships website. 

Dr Patricia Brown 

For 28 years, Dr Patricia Brown directed the choirs of UNSW with great energy and expertise. She was an academic in the Music Department, and the driving force behind a flourishing choral program. Over the years, Patricia directed over 1400 students, staff, and singers from the broader UNSW community in some of the great works of the western choral tradition. Patricia also served as Chorus Director for over fifty different works for UNSW Opera, performing in numerous opera productions and twice with UNSW’s Australia Ensemble. With her husband and colleague, Roger Covell, Patricia produced recital documentaries, operas, choral and instrumental programs, commissioned new works, undertook swathes of research projects, and taught hundreds of students. She sang, conducted, played, and even danced, aside from her work as researcher and educator. In 2017, Patricia's contribution to the musical life of UNSW was honoured through the awarding of an Honorary Fellowship through the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Patricia had boundless energy, a great love of birds and birdsong, of the Australian bush, and of music and its histories. She lived a life dedicated to music and music-making, and the choral program at UNSW continues to benefit from her investment of energy and expertise over so many years.

Dr Patricia Brown (7 January 1945 – 18 April 2023)

Dr Patricia Brown (left) with the Dowland Singers, forerunner of the Collegium Musicum Choir UNSW