Blizzard warnings in Northwest Minnesota, winter weather advisories across the state

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

"It was never planned from the beginning that any of this would happen. My mom just wanted us to be able to learn how to play the piano and to be able to appreciate it our whole lives."

That's Deondra, the second oldest of The 5 Browns, explaining how she and her four 20-something siblings from Utah launched a flourishing performing career. 

Their unplanned success got its first wave of attention in 2002 when People magazine dubbed them the "Fab Five." They earned that moniker for being the first quintet of siblings to study simultaneously at the prestigious Juilliard School. 

With the release of their third recording, "Browns in Blue," the 5 Browns continue to stretch their talent.

Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan Brown have released two earlier recordings. 

"It's different in a lot of ways," says Gregory. "First off, this one is more introspective.  There are also a few collaborations on the new CD, which is something we haven't done before. One with the great violinist Gil Shaham, and one with trumpeter Chris Botti. There's also the first commissioned piece on this CD by Jon Novacek."

Trumpeter Chris Botti joins the 5 Browns on a bluesy arrangement of a familiar Gershwin tune, which is given an appropriate title adjustment, "Home Blues from An American in Paris." Desiree says they really wanted to team up with a jazz artist for this Gershwin classic. 

"I remember watching  Botti play in concert with Sting on the HD channel, and I was like, dang, we gotta get this guy."  

The back-and-forth interplay between Botti and the Browns really keeps the momentum moving. Deondra clarifies why this piece is so special. 

"There's not an arrangement for five pianos and the trumpet, so when he showed up in the recording studio it was a true collaboration between the five of us and him, just trying to figure out where we wanted him to play, and then he'd try a few things out and we'd all talk about it. It was a really cool experience to be on the ground level when that was happening."

Botti and the 5 Browns know how to languish through the melancholy first section of this piece. Four minutes later, they cut loose with a toe-tapping, boogie-woogie piano part. Botti's warm, agile trumpet takes the lead. As a team, these musicians maintain a balance that makes the piece that much more enjoyable.

You might think five talented pianists may be tempted to upstage one another. That doesn't happen with the 5 Browns. They maintain the integrity of the music by choosing the right combination of players for each piece. 

An incredibly intimate arrangement of Debussy's "Claire de Lune" caught my ear. The gentle touch and delicate phrasing of each player sounds even more impressive once we realize all three sisters are sharing the same piano. 

"It's a little tight," Deondra chuckles. "We have to really coordinate where our hands are going to go, and where our arms are going to fall, but the arranger did a great job."  

"I really like the arrangement of 'Claire de Lune' for six hands," Melody adds. "Greg Anderson, our arranger, did a good job keeping that famous melody intact, but adding a little extra sparkle here and there. And it was so great to be able to be with my sisters, to be playing the most amazing of melodies and almost feeling like we're breathing as one." 
 
The 5 Browns aren't just talented young pianists. They're well-grounded young musicians, and thoughtful ambassadors for classical music.  

"We really do love the music we play," Gregory explains, "and we really do think that it is important that other young people, and people who don't know that much about classical music, should be introduced to it so they can have the ability to search it out on their own after that. So we do certain things, like outreach programs, and playing in schools and hospitals, to get more people familiar with classical music."  

With their new release, the 5 Browns are stretching their talent while picking up a few new classical converts along the way. The already converted will find plenty to sink their teeth into as well.

Gallery

Arts and Culture

Music

Julie Amacher

Author

The 5 Browns -- Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan -- didn't plan on becoming professional musicians. All the same, their careers have taken off, and on their latest disc, they collaborate with some stellar names from the classical and jazz worlds.

New Classical Tracks: A quintet of musical siblings

Go Deeper.

Like this?