On Saturday, February 9 there was a sold out crowd at the Boerne Performing Arts presentation of The 5 Browns. The piano quintet is comprised of five sibling Juilliard pianists, two brothers and three sisters.
Stephen Beus, a fellow Juilliard student of the Browns, sat in for Desirae, one of the sisters.
Since being dubbed the "Fab Five" by People Magazine, the group has been featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, Today, and The Tonight Show.
I remember reading a legendary performer once say that no two performances are alike. When I starting studying the piano I recorded some of my practice sessions to hear how I was playing without the distraction of making the music.
The great musician was right, not only were all my repetitions different, I couldn't make my performances sound the same if I tried.
I first heard Van Cliburn live in 1969. He played a concert at Austin's Municipal Auditorium, a barn of a place, to a sold-out audience. I was, in the vernacular of the time, blown away.
As soon as the concert was over, I rushed down from my balcony seat to wait in the long line of well wishers for my opportunity to have my program autographed. By this time, Mr. Cliburn had actually come down into the audience. He was, in a sense, a man of the people.
Originally published on Thu February 28, 2013 11:48 am
Legendary pianist Van Cliburn has died at his home in Fort Worth, former CEO of the Cliburn Foundation Richard Rodzinskiconfirms. Cliburn was diagnosed with bone cancer in August.
