The 5 Browns Piano Quintet presents a new concert program in Wheaton
When these five young and beautiful people come to the stage, the audience greets them with ovations, but then it becomes quiet. Amazed by the light coming straight from the hearts of these unique musicians, the audience breathlessly sits in the expectation of a miracle that is about to happen. When these five young and beautiful people start playing pianos, their light comes in the shape of the music they play. Their fingers touch the keys, and every sound they produce declares victory, strength, talent and love. Love to each other, to the world, and to life. And, certainly, love to music. The 5 Browns return to Wheaton College with a new outstanding concert program that will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 15 at Edman Chapel in Wheaton.
Classical music lovers from the Chicago suburbs expressed a great desire to see these piano virtuosos again, and the Artist Series is happy to bring The 5 Browns back to Wheaton College. The talent of these young prodigies will light up Wheaton with the whole tonal spectrum of the sounds of their beautiful music. This concert program became possible thanks to the Domanada Foundation, a Christ-centered foundation based in Wheaton, which played a great role as a Presenting Partner for this performance.
The 5 Browns – Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra, and Desirae Brown – are five siblings and the only family of pianists ever to be accepted to Juilliard School of Music. Interestingly, they were accepted to this prestigious school simultaneously and impressed their teachers with their passionate and serious attitude to classical music, thorough work and incredible talent. Years of hard work gave tremendous results, and The 5 Browns have released three #1 albums, spent months at the top of the Billboard Classical chart, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and continue impressing audiences all over the world. The 5 Browns are managed by IMG artists, and are exclusive Steinway Artists. Pianos for this performance are proudly provided by Steinway Piano Galleries of Chicago.
Each of The 5 Browns has an individual style of playing piano and a unique personality. Together, they are an ensemble consisting of five piano virtuosos that feel each other and are deeply connected to each other. Certainly, a big part of it is their tremendous and thorough musical education, but it is also a great feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood and unbelievable emotional closeness and support. Their performances can include various combinations where they play individually, in duo, in trio, in quartet or in complex five-piano arrangements, but whichever way they choose to perform is equally dynamic and unforgettable.
For their concert in Wheaton, The 5 Browns selected touching and sincere music with a great range of composers of different historical and cultural origin. The concert will start with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, an intriguing composition written by French composer Paul Dukas and arranged by Jeffrey Shumway for piano teams consisting of five pianos. The 5 Browns will continue the night with a piece which is lively and full of national character, Slavonic Dances by Czech composer Antonín Dvorak. This memorable composition will be followed by an elegant and well-known piece called Anitra’s Dance written by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. Anitra’s Dance is part of the music to Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt.
The evening will continue with The Current by Ryan Brown, which will be followed by piano version of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s immortal Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Allegro con brio. After that, the audience will have a chance to enjoy an arrangement for five pianos made by Greg Anderson on John William’s famous Star Wars Suite. After this warlike music, The 5 Browns will immerse the Edman Chapel in the intertwined sounds of Une Barque sur L'Ocean from a suite for piano called Miroirs written by French composer Maurice Ravel.
The magical sounds of The Swan from Carnival of the Animals by French composer Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns and arranged by Anderson will carry the audience members away from reality. An elegant piece with the notes of melancholy, Nocture in C Minor by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, will bring even more sincerity and emotion into this beautiful night of piano music. The evening will conclude with The Firebird, a pulsing and inspiring piece written by Russian-born composer Igor Stravinksy and brilliantly arranged by Shumway as a multiple piano transcription. This piece will be a strong and passionate conclusion of the night.
The 5 Browns is a phenomenal piano ensemble that should be on a must see list of every classical music admirer. Don’t miss a chance to see and hear in concert these great musicians, who achieved their success because of their natural talent, hard work and endless inspiration and in spite of all the obstacles that they had to face. Come to their concert, and the healing power of music with the help of The 5 Browns will change your life forever.
For information, please call 630-752-5010 or go to https://www.wheaton.edu/life-at-wheaton/arts/artist-series/performances/the-5-browns/. Tickets are $45 for adults, $40 for seniors and $10 for children and students.
Natalia Dagenhart
Photo: Courtesy of The 5 Browns