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Arts

Five virtuosos, one gene pool

The Brown siblings, all concert pianists trained at Juilliard, are used to attracting media attention. With their recording debut, they hope to attract young fans.

NEW YORK - The Five Browns may be the closest classical music ever comes to a teen pop group.

A piano quintet of three sisters and two brothers, the fresh-faced Browns hope to appeal to young classical music enthusiasts with their self-titled recording debut. But they're hardly playing bubble gum music. After all, each of the siblings, who range in age from 19 to 25, has been classically trained at the venerable Juilliard School.

"The music is strictly classical, mind you, but we have one foot in the classical music world and another in real life," Deondra Brown said. "We watch our fair share of MTV, we have different kinds of music in our CD cases. We feel like we speak the language of regular people out there, where classical music isn't their whole world, and hopefully that will make a difference."

The album, which features classical-friendly tracks such as elements of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story and Flight of the Bumble Bee, has already made a difference in the classical arena: It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's classical charts, and has remained there for four weeks in a row. And the Browns - Desirae, 25; Deondra, 24; Gregory, 22; Melody, 20; and Ryan, 19 - are spending the next few months on tour, taking their group around the nation in hopes of cultivating and even wider fan base. (They do not have any dates scheduled in the Tampa Bay area.)

"These kids can really be the spokespeople for classical music for a new generation," said Deborah Sudri, an executive at Sony BMG Masterworks, who was instrumental in signing the group to its RCA Red Seal label.

The Browns, who come across as typical college kids instead of musical whiz kids, are used to being representatives for the genre. They first got national media attention a few years ago, when all five of them were enrolled in Juilliard - a formidable feat for one person to accomplish, let alone five from the same family.

But producing piano prodigies wasn't the intention of their parents, Keith and Lisa Brown, when they were raising the children in Utah. They were just looking for ways to keep their toddlers occupied.

"Since they started so little, it became such a part of their lives," Keith Brown said.

First there were the school recitals, then regional contests and performances. Little by little, the Browns started getting notice. Yet as the two eldest, Desirae and Deondra, started looking ahead to college, the pair were unsure about attending a musical conservatory.

"When I brought it up, the girls said, "Oh no way. We're not good enough,' " their father said.

Their parents disagreed, and with their encouragement, both girls (Deondra graduated early so she could go away with her older sister) tried out for six prestigious music institutions around the nation, including Juilliard, with the hopes they'd perhaps get into one.

Instead, they got into all six and chose Juilliard. Once they arrived, they became recruiters for Juilliard, enticing their younger siblings to join them; Melody and Gregory are still attending, and the youngest, Ryan, went to Juilliard's precollege program and is now studying at the Manhattan School of Music. Deondra and Desirae earned their master's degrees from the school. It was the first time in Juilliard's history that five siblings were attending at the same time.

"Suddenly we had five kids in Juilliard, and that's a little harder to get into than Harvard," Keith said.

The Browns' unique story made them a media magnet; everyone from the New York Times to Oprah Winfrey told the story of the talented siblings. Despite the attention, the Browns didn't look at their classical education as a springboard for a lucrative career as a classical recording act or as concert performers.

However, manager Joel Diamond saw the potential and approached the Browns, suggesting they try to become a classical crossover group, in the vein of a Bond, a Josh Groban or a Charlotte Church, all acts who blended pop sensibilities to appeal to a wider demographic.

The Browns were all for appealing to a new audience but weren't willing to sacrifice their classical background to do it.

"It would have been hard for us because we were trained so intensely in classical music, and once you cross over that line, it's really hard to come back," Gregory Brown said.

Their album doesn't have them trying to put a classical spin on a pop song or collaborating with a pop act. Still, the Browns made some attempts to attract the nonclassical crowd. The selection of Bernstein, for example, was a nod to popular choice, and unlike many classical piano albums, there are 11 relatively short tracks.

Said Desirae: "It's a little more palatable, a little more accessible to people who aren't strictly classical."

Besides the music, five pianists performing at the same time certainly draws attention. But what could come off as a jarring gimmick works quite seamlessly. For audio and video samples, go to www.the5browns.com.

"We've all been trained almost exactly the same since day one, so playing together comes pretty naturally for us on a certain level. And just a lot of rehearsing after that, so it doesn't sound like a mess," Desirae said as they all break into laughter.

They don't play as a unit throughout an entire performance - Deondra and Desirae also perform together, and the other siblings shine as soloists. But their combined chemistry is apparent. The younger siblings, still in school, live together in New York, and the older sisters, both married, share a home across the street from their parents in Utah.

Although the Browns may eventually strike out on their own, for now they like being a part of a group just fine.

"We'd like to do it as long as possible," Gregory said. "Why not just go out and go to work every day with your best friends?"

[Last modified March 25, 2005, 10:42:32]