The 5 Browns, the family of pianists who play together, join conductor Emil de Cou and the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap for a rare evening of works arranged for multiple pianos and orchestra. Siblings Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan grew up in Salt Lake City where music plays a major role in family, school and church traditions. After gaining poise and experience participating in piano competitions, they traveled to New York City to audition at the Juilliard School of Music. All five were admitted at the same time.
Ryan explained that they studied individually at Juilliard. Each was intent on a solo career until the two older girls, Desirae and Deondra, formed a partnership their senior year. Fate intervened shortly after graduation when Sony suggested that they cut a recording featuring all five.
| Onstage |
| 5 Browns |
| Where: Wolf Trap Filene Center |
| When: 8:15 p.m. Thursday |
| Info: $35 to $52 in-house, $20 lawn at 877-965-8727 or wolftrap.org |
“Although Sony signed us on in good faith, we asked ourselves how we could make it logistically possible,” Greg said. “We wanted to entertain by showing who we are, so we decided that the two older sisters would play works for four hands and the three younger would play separately as soloists. In the end, it was agreed that all five should play together, but this required finding repertoire that could be arranged for five pianists.
“We turned to pianist/arranger Greg Anderson, our friend and fellow Juilliard graduate. He continues to arrange for us and on occasion fills in when one of us is unable to be there.”
The self-titled debut album of popular classics rocketed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Album Chart. In the wake of its success, they appeared on “Oprah,” “60 Minutes” and other major shows. The viewing audience was enchanted by their fresh faces and astounding talent times five.
Since reawakening adults and children alike to the delight of playing the piano, they have toured worldwide and completed four more albums: “Browns in Blue,” “5 Stars,” “No Boundaries” and “The 5 Browns in Hollywood.” These are far more adventurous than might be expected from serious musicians.
“As youngsters, we played only the classics, never jazz or ragtime,” Greg said. “But when we were thinking about a second album, we wanted to reach a larger demographic and decided to incorporate less serious numbers.”
