5 browns shatter preconceptions with flawless, passionate Piano

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

February 6, 2008

An unprecedented concert attraction, the 5 Browns are a singular quintet of world-class concert pianists. Performing on five Steinway grand pianos, these twenty-something siblings are dedicated to making classical music part of the lives of people everywhere. Flawless in precision and steeped in passion, they invariably stun critics and shatter the preconceptions of those who think classical music to be inscrutable or intimidating.

In an exhilarating performance including excerpts from Gershwin’s American in Paris and Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on ‘Dives and Lazarus,’ Rachmaninoff’s 18th Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Stravinsky’s Firebird, as well as an audience conversation with the pianist siblings, the 5 Browns will appear at The Paramount Theater on Thursday, February 21 at 8 pm.

Special Media Sponsor is WMRA Radio Network

Whether playing individually or in combinations from duo to complex five-piano arrangements, the 5 Browns’ atmospheric classical and jazz-inspired piano music delivers fresh energy and dynamic character while revealing a deep connection to the material’s intent.

Siblings Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra, and Desirae each showed a clear talent and interest in piano lessons around age 3. While the children were introduced to other instruments, their passion was the piano. Playing came as naturally to them as eating or sleeping, and made a youthful debut with a major symphony orchestra -- in some cases, as early as age nine.

When Desirae began to plan for college, her year-younger sister Deondra decided to accelerate her education in order to attend as the same time. The family began looking into music schools and scholarships before deciding upon New York’s Juilliard School. On Gregory, Melody, and Ryan’s acceptance to Juilliard a year later, the 5 Browns became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously.

The quintet enjoyed their first wave of critical attention in February 2002 when People dubbed them the "Fab Five."  Featured on Oprah and 60 Minutes, the Browns signed with Sony BMG Masterworks soon thereafter.

Following the 2005 release of debut album The 5 Browns (which spent 8 weeks at #1 on the Billboard classical chart), The New York Post proclaimed, “one family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years.” By the end of 2005, the 5 Browns were one of the top classical artists of the year.

Marking their third album release with the October 2007 launch of Browns In Blue, the siblings continue to showcase their individual and collective mastery of the piano and command of classical repertoire.

This latest effort, a series of emotionally-complex works by Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, and Saint Saens (featuring violin virtuoso Gil Shaham) and jazz-influenced contemporary masterpieces of Gershwin (with special guest performance by trumpeter Chris Botti), W.C. Handy, and Piazzolla, is performed with the sublime virtuosity that propelled the siblings to the top of the charts in 2005 and again in 2006 with No Boundaries (also #1 on Billboard’s classical charts, for 21 weeks).

Besides their performances in concert, the quintet has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View, The Martha Stewart Show, and National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Articles on the siblings have been featured in The New York Times, Parade, The Los Angeles Times, the Sunday London Telegraph, and Entertainment Weekly.

Following an appearance with the Dallas Symphony, The Dallas Morning News said, “The 5 Browns proved that classical music can reach teens and twenty-somethings on their own ground, but without posturing or cheapening the product.”

With concerts tapping a new youthful audience, the Browns have experienced young attendees’ deafening cheers and dancing in the aisles, and fans waiting as long as an hour after performances to get the pianists’ autographs. They have also discovered that nearly a third of their audience has seldom, if ever, attended a concert of classical music, while another third is college-age or younger.

“How could a classical musician ever imagine walking out on a stage with a sea of university students roaring as if we were the latest band!”  Melody Brown has said. “Never before could I have thought that I'd be performing works by Debussy or Rachmaninoff for so many people my age and find that they actually really enjoyed what they heard!"

"It just shows you that classical music is not only meant for those who have grown up around it. It can be placed in a concert hall, stadium, or living room, and it has the same effect -- this music can transcend everything!”

Seats are still available for the 5 Brown’s Paramount performance on Thursday, February 21. Tickets are $48.50, $51.50, $54.50, and $59.50. A special $30.50 ticket price is offered to those aged 12 and younger.  Half-price student rush tickets and group discounts are also available.

Tickets are available online or through The Paramount’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.

To learn more about the 5 Browns, please visit www.the5browns.com.