The 5 Browns
Biography The 5 Browns
The 5 Browns
are delivering on their dream to wake up classical music by introducing it to the widest, largest and most excited audience they can find. Whether performing individually or together in various combinations from duo to complex five-piano arrangements, The 5 Browns reveal a deep connection to the intent of their material while bringing a fresh energy and dynamic character to the color and tonal spectrum of their sound.
The 5 Browns – Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae – all attended New York’s Juilliard School. In fact, they became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously. The quintet enjoyed their first wave of critical attention in February 2002 when People magazine dubbed them the “Fab Five” at about the same time they were featured on Oprah and 60 Minutes. The 5 Browns have released 3 CDs that each went to #1 on Billboard Magazine’s Classical Album Chart. The New York Post has proclaimed: “One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years…When these kids do Rachmaninoff, they’ll make you forget about Marshall amps.”
The quintet has garnered extensive coverage from media outlets ranging from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, Today, and The View to The Martha Stewart Show, Public Radio’s Performance Today, as well as The New York Times, Parade, People, the Los Angeles Times, the Sunday London Telegraph and Entertainment Weekly who called them “…five young Mormons who all play scorching piano. Thundering down on five Steinways together, they’re button-down cute and somewhat otherworldly.”
The 5 Browns tour extensively and have performed in numerous venues including the Grand National Theater in China, Suntory Hall in Japan and, in the United States, The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Chicago and Alice Tully Hall in New York City. Individually and collaboratively, they have soloed with orchestras around the world, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de chambre de Paris.
In addition to touring, The 5 Browns are published writers. Their book, Life Between the Keys, a lighthearted collection of personal stories, was published by Phoenix Books in March 2009.
The group was also featured in a PBS TV special, “The 5 Browns In Concert” which aired on PBS stations throughout the country.
A highlight for the quintet was a commissioned five-piano concerto written by famed composer Nico Muhly. Under the direction of Maestro James Conlon, the concerto premiered in 2011 at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Upcoming highlights include a much anticipated Carnegie Hall debut and the release of the Brown’s 6th album, The Rite of Spring: Live from Arthur Zankel Music Center. This new release, set for October, 2013, features a live concert recording of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with Grammy Award winning producer, Adam Abeshouse. The 5 Browns have also been featured recently on CNN’s Piers Morgan Live and Season Two of the popular series “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
