Piano music sensations The 5 Browns return to the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Great Artists Series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Stanley Theatre, 261 Genesee St., Utica.
Tickets range from $23 to $68 with $5 discounts for members available from the Performing Arts Ticket Office at 797-0055 or 800-754-0797 or the Stanley Theatre at 724-4000, online at www.mwpai.org or through TicketMaster.
A preconcert talk with the artists or their tour staff takes place in the Romano Room (former "Red Room") at 6:45 p.m. Questions are encouraged; seating is limited.
"The 5 Browns are delivering on their dream to wake up classical music by introducing it to the widest, largest and most excited audience they can find," MWPAI officials said. Whether performing individually or together in various combinations from duo to complex five-piano arrangements, The 5 Browns "reveal a deep connection to the intent of their material while bringing a fresh energy and dynamic character to the color and tonal spectrum of their sound."
The 5 Browns Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae all attended New York’s Juilliard School. They became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously. The quintet enjoyed their first wave of critical attention in February 2002 when People magazine dubbed them the "Fab Five" and at about the same time they were featured on Oprah and 60 Minutes.
The 5 Browns have released three CDs that each went to #1 on Billboard Magazine’s Classical Album Chart.
The New York Post has proclaimed: "One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years¿When these kids do Rachmaninoff, they’ll make you forget about Marshall amps."
The quintet has garnered extensive coverage from media outlets ranging from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, Today, and The View to The Martha Stewart Show, Public Radio’s Performance Today, as well as The New York Times, Parade, People, the Los Angeles Times, the Sunday London Telegraph.
Entertainment Weekly who called them "five young Mormons who all play scorching piano. Thundering down on five Steinways together, they’re button-down cute and somewhat otherworldly."
On the net: mwpai.org
