Deondra, Ryan,
Desirae, Gregory and Melody
Today LadyDragon is
speaking with The 5 Browns; Ryan 19, Melody 20, Gregory
22, Deondra 24 and Desirae 25, they are 2 brothers and 3
sisters that are all pianist from the same family.
Gamers will be
interested to know that Gregory told LadyDragon after the
interview that is favorite game is Dungeon Siege and that
he is looking forward to the release in August of Dungeon
Siege 2.
Click here to listen
to the Interview
Total
Time 17:48
Good quality 32 Kbps MP3 - 4.07 MB
Better quality 64 Kbps MP3 - 8.14 MB
Best quality 128 Kbps MP3 - 16.2 MB
Three
Sisters, Two Brothers
AN
ALL-AMERICAN FAMILY OF PIANO VIRTUOSOS
PLAYS
CLASSICAL FAVORITES
ON AN
EAGERLY AWAITED DEBUT RECORDING
FOR RCA RED
SEAL/BMG CLASSICS
CD RELEASED
FEBRUARY 8, 2005
New
Five-Piano Transcriptions Feature All Five Brown Siblings
– Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody & Ryan
– Plus Duo and Solo Pieces
Recording Released
In New DualDisc Format
Full Audio CD Plus
Bonus DVD Side Featuring 2 Music Videos
The 5 Browns Will
Tour The U.S. In Spring 2005
Young, beautiful,
handsome, likeable, dazzlingly talented and passionate
about the music they play, The 5 Browns – an
American quintet of brothers and sisters who are all
virtuoso concert pianists – make their recording
debut on a new CD from RCA Red Seal/BMG Classics that
features an array of classical favorites showcasing the
talents of each member of the family. The disc includes
ear-bending new transcriptions of such works as
Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumble Bee,
Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and music
from Bernstein’s West Side Story, as well as works
that spotlight the talents of each pianist, individually
and in combination. All the music for the album,
including the ensembles, was memorized for the recording.
The debut CD of The 5 Browns will be released February 8,
2005.
The recording will
be released in the new DualDisc format, which combines
audio and video content on a single disc – one side
features the audio recording, the other side features DVD
video. In addition to the full album on the CD side, the
DVD side will feature two music videos of The 5 Browns in
a filmed performance, playing Flight of the Bumble Bee
and Scenes from West Side Story.
With one of the most
appealing stories in music, The 5 Browns – Ryan, 19;
Melody, 20; Gregory, 22; Deondra, 24 and Desirae 25 -
became an international sensation with appearances on
Oprah and 60 Minutes and in People, The New York Times,
Los Angeles Times and Sunday London Telegraph while they
were still attending New York’s Juilliard School of
Music, the first time five siblings have been students at
the same time at the prestigious school. Earlier this
year, they signed an exclusive contract to record for RCA
Red Seal/BMG Classics. Following the release of the
recording, The 5 Browns will perform live on Good Morning
America and featured again on 60 Minutes. They will be
embarking on a U.S. concert tour in the Spring.
The new disc
premieres spectacular five-piano transcriptions–
created expressly for The 5 Browns – of
Bernstein’s “Scenes from West Side Story,”
Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumble
Bee;” Dukas’s The Sorcerer's Apprentice; and
Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”
from Peer Gynt, Op. 23. The West Side Story transcription
by Kendall Durelle Briggs, the other three by Jeffrey
Shumway.
Desirae and Deondra
Brown, who often perform as a duo-piano team, play
Ravel’s La Valse in its two-piano version. Gregory
Brown is heard in two solo works –
Rachmaninoff’s “Elégie” from Morceaux de
fantaisie, Op. 3, and Bowen’s Toccata, Op. 155.
Melody Brown performs Debussy’s L'Isle joyeuse and
Friedman’s Tabatière à musique (Musical Box), Op.
33, No. 3. Ryan Brown is also heard in a pair of solo
works – Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 3, Op. 28 and
the fourth of Rachmaninoff’s Moments Musicaux, Op.
16.
The drive and
ambition of The 5 Browns is equaled only by their mutual
love and affection. Their dedication to music has already
resulted in remarkable artistic achievements. The
siblings' teachers at Juilliard praise their talent and
promise, not only for their extraordinary teamwork but
also for their distinctive, evolving personalities as
individual artists – "... Desirae and Deondra
are a fabulous team; they play like they read each
other's minds. Gregory is a real bravura-type performer.
Melody is sweet and easygoing, and it comes through in
her playing. And Ryan is a storyteller and has a great
imagination.”
Having devoted most
of their young lives to classical music, The 5 Browns are
reaching their artistic maturity just as seismic changes
have begun to rewrite the rules in the classical
recording industry. Their serious dedication combines
with their infectious energy to offer the listener a new
way to perceive classical music. Deondra, Melody,
Desirae, Ryan and Gregory, want to reach out to a new
generation—their generation –one that has been
fed on commercial pop and has yet to discover what The 5
Browns passionately believe… that classical music
can be interesting and cool !
Tour Date
| 3/30
& 31 |
Stuart,
FL |
Lyric
Theatre |
| 4/16 |
Seattle |
Nordstrom
Hall |
| 4/21
|
San
Francisco, CA |
Palace
of Fine Arts |
| 4/23
|
Salt
Lake, UT |
Kingsbury
Hall |
| More date will
More date will be
annouced soon so go to their website for the latest Tour
Date http://www.the5browns.com/
Biography
THE 5 BROWNS are
ready to play. Handsome, charming, articulate and
close-knit, this youthful quintet of brothers and
sisters, all virtuosic concert pianists, love classical
music so profoundly they want to share it with everyone
else. Each of the Browns – Desirae, 25; Deondra, 24;
Gregory, 22; Melody, 20; and Ryan, 19 – has a
distinctive and discriminating keyboard talent, honed at
New York’s Juilliard School, where for five
consecutive years they studied simultaneously. They have
chosen to cast their lot together as a unique quintet of
classical pianists, performing on five pianos, and in
various ensemble combinations. After capturing the
imagination of the public in stories that have appeared
on Oprah and 60 Minutes, and in the pages of The New York
Times, People Magazine, Los Angeles Times and Sunday
London Telegraph, THE 5 BROWNS have signed an exclusive
contract to record for RCA Red Seal/BMG Classics, and
their debut album will be released February 8, 2005,
followed by a concert tour.
THE 5 BROWNS made
their official concert debut as an ensemble in spring
’04, in Houston – where all five were born
– performing pieces that will appear on their first
recording. In addition to orchestral selections that have
been transcribed for five pianos, the setting and the
repertoire allow the artistic personality of each to
shine. Desirae and Deondra have devoted themselves to a
unique partnership as duo pianists. Critics have stated,
“the dynamic duo” “exhibit an
understanding that verges on telepathy”
“wrought with alluring seductiveness” and
“left their listeners’ jaws on the floor.”
Gregory is a “real bravura type performer” with
dynamic personality and technique. Critics say he is
“ready for primetime” as he “whipped the
audience into a polite frenzy,” Melody’s
playing is “elegant” and “the most
expressive” critics say, as “she presented a
plethora of imaginative colorations,” and Ryan is an
“imaginative storyteller” who “exploited
his fluid fingers and instinctive sense of drama.”
What makes THE 5
BROWNS even more remarkable is the utter lack of show-biz
calculation in the story of their still-developing
musical lives. They are the sons and daughters of a
down-to-earth Utah couple, Keith and Lisa Brown, who
raised their family in the devoted spirit of their Mormon
faith. Lisa, classically trained to sing opera, decided
early on that she wanted her children to have music in
their lives. The piano was an obvious place to begin.
“Then,” as
Keith says simply, “their music took on a life of
its own.” As the brothers and sisters became old
enough to take piano lessons – around age 3 –
each showed a clear talent and interest. Not only were
they gifted, they enjoyed what they were doing. “I
think Desirae, the oldest, was in school, about 6 years
old, when she realized that not everybody in the world
plays the piano,” Keith says. “She just thought
it was a part of life, like eating or sleeping.”
Keith and
Lisa’s only desire was for their children to be
happy, healthy and rewarded with the pleasures of music.
Neither of them had any plan to raise a quintet of
serious piano virtuosos, but unlike many parents, they
did not see their talented children lose interest in the
piano when they hit adolescence. Quite the opposite, in
fact, and to such a degree that Lisa felt compelled to
devote herself to managing their schedule – a
full-time job of getting them to and from lessons, and
sitting with them at the bench for their three-hour
practice each day until about age 11. The hard work paid
off. Each of the children, as early as age 9, made their
debut with major symphony orchestras.
When Desirae began
to plan for college - Deondra, a year younger, decided to
accelerate her education in order to attend with her
sister – the family began looking into music schools
and scholarships. The overwhelming response included full
scholarship offers from the finest music schools and
conservatories in the nation. New York’s Juilliard
School became their choice. One year later when Gregory,
Melody and Ryan were accepted to Juilliard as well, the
entire Brown family, along with their five pianos, moved
from Utah to New York.
How THE 5 BROWNS
came to be headline grabbing recording artists is a story
in itself. Multi-platinum record producer Joel Diamond,
now their manager and executive producer, discovered Ryan
first, when he happened to catch a PBS documentary about
a piano competition in which Ryan was playing. Diamond
had nothing but a name to go on, so he began calling all
the Browns in Utah until he found the family. He then
learned that there were four more brilliant young
pianists at home. He immediately saw the possibilities in
presenting all five siblings together. The young Browns
themselves had powerful ideas about how they wanted their
careers to unfold. Happily, Diamond’s commercial
instincts and the Browns’ aesthetic ambitions were a
perfect fit, and a partnership was born.
Having devoted most
of their lives to classical music, Desirae, Deondra,
Gregory, Melody, and Ryan arrived at young adulthood
– and the threshold of professional careers –
with the challenging realization that the classical
audience was only shrinking and getting older. Just as
seismic changes began to rewrite the rules in the
classical recording industry, they decided they would
make a bold, positive statement. They would mobilize
their talent, their taste and their infectious energy to
change the very way classical music is perceived today.
With determination to increase its popularity, they want
to reach out to a new generation – their generation
– one that has been fed on commercial pop and has
yet to discover what the Browns know… that Classical
music can be cool !
The 5 Browns have
done their homework. And they are ready to play.
| Video
Clips - Flight of The Bumble Bee |
| Video
Clips -
West Side Story |
| Audio
Clips -
Flight of The Bumble Bee |
| Audio
Clips - The Sorcerers Apprentice |
|
| Audio
Clips - West Side Story |
| Audio
Clips - Tabatiere A Musique op33 |
| Audio
Clips - Moment Musicaux op16 |
| Audio
Clips - Lisle Joyeuse |
| Audio
Clips - Sonata no3 In A Minor |
| Audio
Clips - Toccata op155 |
| Audio
Clips - In the Hall of the Mountain King |
|
| |
|
