The 5 Browns

The 5 Browns quickly distinguished themselves in classical music circles and elsewhere through inventive programming and performances. People magazine bestowed the nickname “Fab Five” upon the ensemble in 2002, after which the group toured extensively before global audiences and issued multiple widely embraced recordings.

Born in Houston to parents Lisa and Keith, the five siblings—Desirae (1979), Deondra (1980), Gregory (1982), Melody (1984), and Ryan (1986)—each began studying piano at age three under Yelena Kurinets. Following the family’s relocation to Utah in 1991, instruction continued with Irene Peery-Fox. In 2001 the siblings achieved another milestone by becoming the first set of five siblings simultaneously admitted to the Juilliard School. The 5 Browns ensemble itself was launched the next year and met with immediate acclaim. That same year brought a profile in People along with appearances on Oprah and 60 Minutes. From the outset the musicians have presented repertoire in configurations ranging from solo piano to five-piano arrangements.

RCA Red Seal signed the ensemble in 2004; its debut self-titled album, issued in 2005, spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard classical chart. Extensive touring ensued, taking the group throughout the United States and Asia with concerts in Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, and Taiwan. The siblings jointly released the memoir Life Between the Keys in 2009. Two years later they premiered Edge of the World, a concerto for five pianos commissioned from Nico Muhly, at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival under James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The 5 Browns remained with RCA Red Seal—later absorbed into Sony/BMG Masterworks—through 2008, producing five commercially successful albums in total; both No Boundaries (2006) and Browns in Blue (2007) returned the ensemble to the top of the Billboard classical chart. In 2010 the group moved to E1 for the release of The 5 Browns in Hollywood. A PBS special titled “The 5 Browns in Concert” aired in 2012. After signing with Steinway & Sons, the musicians issued a live recording of their arrangement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in 2013 and Christmas with the 5 Browns in 2019.

Desirae and Deondra established the nonprofit Foundation for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in 2011 to champion victims’ rights, following public disclosure that their father had sexually abused the three sisters and his subsequent conviction. The family’s story was chronicled in the 2018 documentary The 5 Browns: Digging Through the Darkness.