The 5 Browns: Siblings bring sounds to Logan
With their ability to switch from Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 to a Star Wars Medley without missing a beat, the 5 Browns will take the Ellen Eccles Theater stage tonight and Tuesday for two sold-out shows.
Ellen Eccles Theater Programming Director Amanda Castillo said the concert is a great tourism opportunity for Cache Valley and a good way to highlight talent that comes out of Utah.
“It’s kind of a neat little Utah’s-own story,” she said. “We try to bring in the best of the best.”
According to their website, The 5 Browns – Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae – hit stardom after becoming the first family of five siblings to be concurrently accepted into to the Julliard School of Music. The siblings, according to Castillo, grew up in a home that appreciated music. They started playing at the age of 3 and haven’t stopped.
Manager Steven Gates said it’s an anomaly to have five siblings reach a professional level, which is part of why they can play for many age ranges and personalities.
Since their Julliard days, they have traveled across the globe, performing for audiences of all types. Their third album “The 5 Browns in Hollywood,” a combination of classic Hollywood soundtracks arranged specially for them, hit stores last May. Castillo described the songs as recognized, but not widely performed.
“They’re doing classical works more hip,” she said. “It’s cool that they’re reaching a younger audience. They’ve got a fun set that varies from light to heavy (pieces).”
The idea of them coming to Logan came to Wally Bloss, the executive director of the Ellen Eccles Theater, when he first saw the 5 Browns in Salt Lake a few years ago. He was blown away by their talent, and knew he had to get them in Cache Valley.
“They’re young, fresh,” he said. “They breath life into classical music. They make it exciting.”
Like Billy Joel and Duke Ellington, the 5 Browns are Steinway artists, a status symbol in the music world. This means that they only play professionally on Steinway pianos. This also allows them to rent Steinways at no cost and travel around the country with the pianos.
Castillo said while the theater is always looking for new acts and ideas, they don’t usually book local artists unless they have a large draw. The 5 Browns, she said, are wholesome family entertainment, something many people in Logan look for.
A show in Northern Utah is a first for the Utah-based group. Originally, Bloss said the theater tried to book the show consecutively with the Browns’ November show at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake, but a scheduling conflict arose and the Theater had to arrange a spring concert.
Castillo said getting the five siblings to Logan has been a task more than a year in the making. Besides booking the group, the theater had to figure out the logistics of getting five pianos on stage. The most they have fit is two. Despite the challenges, she said the concert represents the community well and that Brown’s fans excited for the event.
The group has preformed on college campuses all over the country. Part of the draw, Bloss said, is their age. They can play anything from contemporary to classical, he said, and make it their own.
“They’re not just stiff, boring, artists in a tux and tie,” he said. “They interact with the audience. They have charisma. They love what they do and it shows.”
Castillo said another unique thing is though they love their music, they lead normal lives, creating hobbies for themselves outside of the practice room. One such project is Threadethic.com, a clothing website created by Desirae and Melody in December of 2010 that focuses on the motto: “Brave enough to make strong fashion choices, confident enough not to bare it all.”
“They’ve got flair, style, and fashion,” Castillo said. “They’re fun and approachable.”
What makes the Browns most different, Manager Steven Gates said, is not just that they all graduated from Julliard, but that they have the ability to perform flawlessly in sync yet be individual artists.
“They each have an individual voice on the piano,” said Gates. “The cohesiveness of them together is remarkable.”
– allee.evensen@aggiemail.usu.edu