desi
Brown

INTRO

Welcome! I am a professional classical concert pianist based in New York City and have been touring with the piano chamber group The 5 Browns for the past 17 years. I have also taught piano students for over 20 years. I find that connecting with young students, and nurturing a love of music in the next generation, is some of the most fulfilling work I do.

I live in Manhattan with my husband, concert violinist Bryan Hernandez-Luch, and two young children, Poppy and Rowan, who also play the piano.

BIO

Desirae Brown has performed over 650 concerts across the United States and around the world as a soloist, duo pianist, and member of the piano chamber group, The 5 Browns. She is an exclusive Steinway artist and has released four albums on the RCA Red Seal/Sony BMG Masterworks label, one with E1Entertainment, and her three most recent albums on Steinway and Sons’ Archive Music label. She is managed exclusively through IMG Artists in New York City. Ms. Brown received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School in New York City, studying with Yoheved Kaplinsky. As a member of The 5 Browns, Desirae and her siblings continue to expand the genre of ensemble piano playing by reviving the nineteenth century tradition of “monster concerts.”

Desirae tours extensively and has performed in numerous venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall - Isaac Stern Auditorium, the Grand National Theatre in China, Suntory Hall in Japan, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago. She has performed with the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and New Jersey Symphony, among others.

Desirae has garnered extensive coverage from media outlets as part of the piano quintet, The 5 Browns. They have appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Oprah, CNN’s Piers Morgan, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The View, and NPR’s Performance Today, as well as in the New York Times, Parade, People, Clavier, Los Angeles Times, Sunday London Telegraph, and Entertainment Weekly.

Desirae has also worked with composers John Novacek, and Nico Muhly, as well as collaborated with such notables as Chris Botti. Desirae has recorded with Grammy award winning producers Jay David Saks, David Frost, and Adam Abeshouse.

Ms. Brown has participated in numerous classical music outreach programs across the country. Passionate about sharing classical music with all children, she has donated her efforts to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. Desirae is a published writer. She wrote a book with her siblings entitled Life Between the Keys, published by Dove/Phoenix Books, and contributed a regular column for Clavier Magazine.

She was also featured in a national PBS television special, The 5 Browns: In Concert, which received a prestigious regional Emmy award.

Desirae and her siblings were honored to collaborate with Ben Niles, the award-winning filmmaker of films Note By Note and Some Kind of Spark. The 5 Browns: Digging Through The Darkness follows the journey of The 5 Browns from their triumphant musical career to the disclosure of child sex abuse and the subsequent fight for healing and social justice. 

In 2019, The 5 Browns were each presented with Honorary Doctorates from Utah Valley University, the largest university in the state of Utah, for their work as performers, music educators and philanthropists.

Desirae has taught piano lessons privately for twenty years. Teaching is a passion of hers and an important aspect of her life. She greatly enjoys being able to mentor young students and pass on her love of music to the next generation.