Founder of the Stradivari Trust, Nigel Brown OBE, has Died at Age 77

Brown's trust introduced a new model that allowed players to acquire their instruments gradually by paying in installments

Nigel Brown, a British businessman, philanthropist, and founder of the Stradivari Trust, has passed away. Through a myriad of activities, he supported and facilitated music-making at the highest level, offering soloists a pathway to the ownership of top-tier instruments while also funding multiple music organizations.

Brown was born in 1945 and began his career in stocks and insurance, having studied medieval history at the University of St Andrews.

A lifelong music lover, he had the idea for the Stradivari Trust after helping the violinist Nigel Kennedy acquire the "La cathédrale" Stradivarius in 1985 — at a cost of £375,000. Following this success, the trust was born. Its founding principle was that the cost of a fine instrument could be divided up into smaller, more accessible shares, which musicians could then purchase in installments over the course of a twenty-year term.

More than 60 musicians have purchased their instruments with the trust's support, and these include players such as Steven Isserlis, Natalie Clein, Lawrence Power, and Jennifer Pike.

Alongside violist James Brown, Nigel Brown was also the founder of the management agency Hazard Chase — which represented musicians such as Julian Bream and the Endellion Quartet.

His other music-based initiatives included a close association with the Britten Sinfonia, the founding of the funding body ArtsShare, serving as chairman of the Cambridge Arts Theatre, and being a patron of the Cambridge Music Festival.

"Nigel was benefactor, mentor and inspiration to so many people in Cambridge and beyond, including me," Brown's friend Hugh Parnell told the Cambridge Independent.

"What is so astonishing was his accomplishments in so many totally diverse activities, in all of which he originated, developed and enabled success. Few of us are aware or involved with more than a corner of his multiple life."

"I owe Nigel a great deal for helping me to start my business career, tolerating my mistakes and encouraging me to be ambitious," said Brown's Hazard Chase business partner James Brown.

"Nigel’s vision, creativity and positivity were his great strengths — he was someone who came up with ideas and made many of them happen," he added."I think his most important legacy in music is the significant number of artists who are playing on excellent instruments due to him. In that respect, he played a very important role in the industry — a role for which he was uniquely qualified."