S ISTERS AND B ROTHERS
OF THE R OAD
The 5 Browns wow young audiences
T
hey don’t record pop songs in their
garage, and they don’t tour around
in a colorful school bus like a cer-
tain other family five, but the group called
the 5 Browns does consist of a group of
musically talented siblings spreading the
joy of music — classical music.
The 5 Browns consists of Ryan, 20,
Melody, 21, Gregory, 23, Deondra, 25, and
Desirae, 27. They form a quintet of nation-
ally renowned classical pianists who are one
of the top draws at this year’s Bach Festival.
Growing up in Utah, the Browns
were taught the importance of a strong
family connection, the Mormon scripture
and the piano. Their mom Lisa, classical-
ly trained to sing opera, decided early on
that she wanted her children to have
music in their lives. The piano, she says,
was an obvious place to begin.
“Our children started piano lessons by
the age of three,” Lisa says in press mate-
rial. “We noticed a clear talent and inter-
est from the start.”
By as early as age nine, each Brown
had made a debut with a major sympho-
ny orchestra. “I think Desirae was in
school, about 6 years old, when she real-
ized that not everybody in the world
plays the piano,” Keith Brown, their dad,
BY DEANNA UUTELA
recalls. “She just thought it was a part of
life, like eating or sleeping.”
When Desirae began to plan for col-
lege, Deondra decided to accelerate her
education in order to attend school with
her sister. They say that the responses
from the finest music schools in the nation
were overwhelming, and they decided to
attend New York’s Juilliard. One year
later Gregory, Melody and Ryan were
accepted to Juilliard as well — the first
time five siblings were ever accepted
simultaneously as students at the school.
Advised by manager Joel Diamond
and their parents, the siblings joined
together to become a quintet of classical
pianists playing on five pianos and in var-
ious ensemble combinations. From then
on their lives have consisted of television
appearances, profiles in major publica-
tions, two CDs, performances around the
country and screaming fans.
Tiger Woods was a golf hottie and
Josh Groban boosted adult contempo-
rary music; now, the young, attractive 5
Browns are raising the profile of classical
music among younger people.
“How could a classical musician ever
imagine walking out on a stage with a sea
of university students roaring as if we were
The Festival
Orchestra plays
its heart out at
OBF ’06
O UTSIDE THE B ACHS
Oregon Bach Festival sked and highlights!
Wednesday 6/27
★7 pm
InChoir (The Studio, Hult
Center)
Sing along with the masters!
See story, p. 7.
Friday 6/29
6:30 pm
Inside Line: Peter Hopkins
(Soreng Theater, Hult Center)
6:45 pm
Opening Ceremonies with the
Pacific International Children’s
Choir Festival (Hult Center
lobby)
★7:30 pm Choral-Orchestral Concert:
Brahms German Requiem*
(Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center)
The opening of the festival,
always a moment alive with
anticipation and energy — don’t
6 O REGON B ACH F ESTIVAL
forget your binocs; make reser-
vations at your favorite down-
town restaurant; get a parking
spot early; will the soloists live
up to the days of yore? —
should be appropriately full of
lush sound and texture.
Saturday 6/30
11 am
Dance Theatre of Oregon pres-
ents The Dancing Composers
(Soreng Theater, Hult Center)
noon
PICCFEST Choir (Hult Lobby)
★7:30 pm Choral-Orchestral Concert: PDQ
Bach: “The Jekyll & Hyde Tour”
(Silva)
See story, p. 2, and buy tix for
this major, and majorly enjoy-
able, event.
the latest band?” Melody Brown said
recently. “Never before could I have ever
thought that I’d be performing composers
like Debussy or Rachmaninoff for so many
people my age and finding that they actu-
ally really enjoyed what they heard!”
Though the Bach Festival begins after
the UO lets out for the summer, tickets have
been flying away as fast as they’re printed,
according to the OBF’s George Evano.
Melody Brown says that classical
music isn’t stuffy and shouldn’t be
restricted only to people who grew up
playing it or whose parents loved it.
“[The music] can be placed in a concert
hall, stadium, or living room, and it has
the same effect — this music can tran-
scend everything!”
In between appearances on Oprah and
interviews with The New York Times, The 5
Browns will be performing in the Hult
Center at 7:30 pm on Friday, July 13 in
their first and only Oregon appearance.
Ticket prices range from $15-$27, and
you’d better get them soon if you want to
see the sensational sibs live onstage.
The 5 Browns
Sunday 7/1
★4 pm
Choral-Orchestral Concert: Bach
& Family:* Bach concertos,
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and
Jupiter Symphony (Silva) This
concert shows off Helmuth
Rilling’s brilliant family and,
more generally, the Festival fam-
ily of wonderful musicians. We
love us some Allan Vogel: Yes,
please do play that oboe
d’amore!
Monday 7/2
noon
Organ Interludes: ElRay Stewart
Cook (Central Lutheran Church)
★7:30 pm Intimate Evenings: Trio
Verlaine,“Menuet Antique”
(Beall) Mmm … French music.
Mmmm … Lorna McGhee.
Mmmmm … viola / harp / flute
trio. Like chamber music? Like
the up close and personal effect
of Beall? This is for you.
8 pm
PICCFEST Gala Concert (Silva)
Tuesday 7/3
noon
Hinkle Distinguished Lecture:
Martin Marty
(Soreng)
4:30 pm
Discovery Series: Bach Cantata
78* (Soreng)
★8 pm
Choral-Orchestral Concert: all
Mendelssohn, Midori, violin
soloist; Jeffrey Kahane, conduc-
tor (Silva) Violin goddess
Midori! Conductor and piano
god Jeffrey Kahane! Eugene
hearts you both. (And by the
way, if you like The Kahane
and/or Chopin, don’t forget July
5’s all-Chopin concert with him
as soloist.)
Wednesday 7/4
No concerts
Thursday 7/5
noon
Let’s Talk: Anton Armstrong and
SFYCA Alumni (The Studio)
★4:30 pm Discovery Series: Haydn Mass
for Theresa Part 1* (Soreng
Theater, Hult Center)
Going to the Mass for Theresa in
a couple of days? Make sure
you head for the Discovery
Series first!
★7:30 pm Intimate Evenings: all Chopin,
Jeffrey Kahane, soloist and con-
ductor (Beall)
Friday 7/6
noon
Organ Interludes: Barbara Baird
(First Congregational Church)
Trio Verlaine
Monday, July 2
For tickets and more info, visit http://bachfest.uoregon.edu