"Fab Five" Sibling Piano Virtuosos The 5 Browns Debut at the Kimmel Center February 23
January 30, 2008
Program includes works by Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Saint-Saëns as well as contemporary, jazz-influenced masterpieces of Gershwin, W.C. Handy and Piazolla
"One family, five pianos and 50 fingers add up to the biggest classical music sensation in years"—The New York Post
"This quintet of piano prodigies revamps stuffy classics for the Rachmaninoff-impaired."—Entertainment Weekly
Classical music’s first family of piano virtuosos The 5 Browns debuts at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 3pm as part of Kimmel Center Presents’ World & Pop series. The five brothers and sisters first emerged as a phenomenon in classical music when they attended New York’s prestigious Julliard School of Music all at one time, and have since performed sold-out concerts in the United States and abroad with a succession of chart-topping albums. On stage, the siblings have ignited new interest in classical music for younger generations with a rich tapestry of sound, combining youthful rigor with a fresh expressiveness to their individual interpretations. Their Kimmel Center performance will include works by Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Saint-Saëns as well as the contemporary, jazz-influenced masterpieces of Gershwin, W.C. Handy and Piazolla, as heard on the quintet’s most recent release, Browns in Blue (2007).
An Artist Chat will be conducted by The 5 Browns from the stage at the beginning of the second half of the concert, enabling audience members to ask questions.
This concert is the eighteenth concert in the World & Pop Series scheduled for the Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season. The next concert in the series will be k.d. lang on Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 7:30pm in Verizon Hall.
Tickets for The 5 Browns are $26, $37, $44, $51 and $59 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
The 5 Browns—Utah natives Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae—began piano lessons at around age three, and by as early as age nine they had each made their debut with a major symphony orchestra. As a quintet, the siblings first swept the classical world in 2005 with the release of their self-titled debut recording which landed them at the top of the weekly Billboard classical charts. That same year, the quintet was ranked by Billboard as one of the Top Classical Artists of 2005, with the number two Top Classical Album of the year. The siblings’ second album, No Boundaries (2006), spent more than 20 consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard's Traditional Classical chart. In addition to recording, the quintet has performed to sold-out audiences throughout the U.S., the UK and Germany, as well as Japan and Korea in venues ranging from large performing arts centers to schools and civic auditoriums. The siblings—who now range in age from 20 to 27 years old—have also garnered extensive media coverage with their inspirational story, including appearances on "Oprah," "60 Minutes," "Good Morning America," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Martha Stewart’s "Martha," "The View," and others.
Kimmel Center Presents 2007/2008 season is sponsored by Citi. Support for the Mellon Jazz Series comes from The Bank of New York Mellon. The Great Orchestra Series is supported by ARC Wheeler. Additional support is provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System and American Express. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Mellon Jazz, Mellon Jazz Up Close and World & Pop.
The Kimmel Center also receives support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and the Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents, and additional media sponsors include WDAS, WRTI, WJJZ, Afro-Pop, WXPN and WXPN's Kids Corner 20th Anniversary.
Free in the Plaza programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS SPONSORED BY CITI
Saturday, February 23, 2008 | 3pm
Verizon Hall
World & Pop Series
The 5 Browns
Ryan Brown, piano
Melody Brown, piano
Gregory Brown, piano
Deondra Brown, piano
Desirae Brown, piano
GERSHWIN/SHUMWAY: Home Blues from American in Paris
RACHMANINOFF: Suite No. 2, Op. 17 and II. Valse: Presto
PIAZOLLA: Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi (A Portrait of Alfredo Gobbi)
SAINT-SAENS/GODOWSKY: The Swan from Carnival of the Animals
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS/ANDERSON: Fantasia on 'Dives and Lazarus'
GOTTSCHALK: Grande Tarantelle, Op. posth. 67
SHUBERT/LISZT: Gretchen am Spinnrade (Margaret at the Spinning-Wheel)
GERSHWIN/WILD: Embraceable You
HANDY: Aunt Hagar’s Blues
RACHMANINOFF/ANDERSON: 18th Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
SCRIABIN: Vers la Flamme (Into the Flame), Poeme, Op. 72
GRIEG: Ich liebe dich (I Love Thee), Op. 41, No. 3
PROKOFIEFF: Toccata, Op. 11
DEBUSSY/ANDERSON: Clair de lune from Suite Bergamasque
STRAVINSKY/SHUMWAY: The Firebird (from the 1911 version)
FREE AT THE KIMMEL:
Saturday, February 23, 2008 | 1:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
TBA
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