Sibling harmony: The 5 Browns add modern dash to classical repertoire

By Doug Robinson
Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008 12:46 a.m. MDT
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ALPINE — The first thing people assume is that it was all planned.

The 5 Browns, the all-sibling classical piano quintet from Utah, was surely the result of stage parents who aspired to raise five piano prodigies and pack them off to Juilliard, followed by appearances on "Oprah," "60 Minutes" and "The Tonight Show," followed by a recording contract and worldwide concert tours. Which is exactly what happened, but no one saw it coming.

Who would invite financial ruin on themselves to make it happen? Keith and Lisa Brown, both in their early 50s, don't even have a house to call their own — they're living in her parents' home in Alpine.

The Browns made this up as they went along, one thing leading to another, Keith and Lisa as surprised as anyone each step of the way. Nobody could have planned it. It's preposterous. It's like planning to produce all five starters for the Boston Celtics.

"If we had planned it, we would have had them play different instruments," Lisa says.

But it happened anyway, and Desirae, 29; Deondra, 28; Greg, 25; Melody, 24; and Ryan, 22, have given stodgy classical music a shot in the arm. Their three CDs have spent several weeks atop Billboard's classical music charts, and their concert tours sell out in nearly all 50 states, Japan, Germany, France, Korea, Mexico and England.

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In concert, the Browns treat their fans to a musical circus act featuring 50 flying fingers. The Browns play in various combinations — solo, duet, duo, trio, six hands, quintet. When the three ladies play "Clair de Lune" on one piano, their long, slender white arms look like six swans gracefully nodding to the keyboard. Otherwise, the Browns play with almost violent passion, attacking the keyboard, heads hammering or lolling to the music, eyes closed or stealing looks at each other to maintain their timing, which is so impeccable that five pianos sound as one. They play their entire program from memory, without sheet music.

There has never been anything quite like them. There weren't even any five-piano arrangements when they began their professional careers five years ago. They retained, among others, Jeff Shumway, a Brigham Young University professor and fellow Juilliard alum, to do create special arrangements.

This is not your father's classical piano concert. Stiff, formal performers have been replaced by smiling young adults exchanging lively banter with the audience. Between each number, one of them approaches the microphone and explains, like, the history of the next, like, number, or, you know, like how they feel about the next piece in a way that's, like, humorous, endearing and informative.

"It's supposed to be entertaining," Deondra says. "It's not a funeral."

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Recent comments

they aren't native utahns, they are texans. they were in our ward…

Anonymous | Sept. 1, 2008 at 7:10 p.m.

The Deseret News keeps rehashing stories about the Browns because…

there's a reason | Sept. 1, 2008 at 1:17 p.m.

My grandmother taught piano for probably 50 years, almost until the…

Sharing The Joy | Aug. 31, 2008 at 10:29 p.m.

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The 5 Browns, native Utahns, are a famous group of piano-virtuoso siblings. They've appeared on "Oprah," "The View," "Good Morning America," "CBS Morning Show" and have been profiled twice on "60 Minutes." (Andrew Southam)
Andrew Southam
The 5 Browns, native Utahns, are a famous group of piano-virtuoso siblings. They've appeared on "Oprah," "The View," "Good Morning America," "CBS Morning Show" and have been profiled twice on "60 Minutes."
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