Ying String Quartet

The Quartet has established itself as an ensemble of the highest musical qualifications. Their performances regularly take place in many of the world’s most important concert halls, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House; at the same time, the Quartet’s belief that concert music can also be a meaningful part of everyday life has also drawn the foursome to perform in settings as diverse as the workplace, schools, juvenile prisons, and the White House. In fact, the Ying Quartet’s constant quest to explore the creative possibilities of the string quartet has led it to an unusually diverse array of musical projects and interests.

The Ying’s LifeMusic commissioning project, created in response to their commitment to expanding the rich string quartet repertoire, has already achieved an impressive history. Supported by the Institute for American Music, the Yings commission both established and emerging composers to create music that reflects contemporary American life. Their third recording of these commissions, titled “LifeMusic 3,” features works by Lowell Liebermann, Sebastian Currier, Paul Moravec and Pierre Jalbert. Other recent works include Billy Childs’ “Awakening,” Kenji Bunch’s String Quartet No. 2, “Concussion Theory,” and Lera Auerbach’s “Sylvia’s Diary.”

In addition to appearing in conventional concert situations, the Ying Quartet is also known for its wide-ranging and unusual performance projects. For several years the Quartet presented a series called “No Boundaries” at Symphony Space in New York City that sought to re-imagine the concert experience. Collaborations with actors, dancers, electronics, a host of non-classical musicians, a magician and even a Chinese noodle chef gave new and thoughtful context to a wide variety of both traditional and contemporary string quartet music. They have also worked with composer Tod Machover and the MIT Media lab in the use of Hyperscore, an innovative musical composition software. Other musical partners range from pianists Menahem Pressler and Leon Fleisher and cellist Paul Katz to the jazz pianist Billy Childs and his Sextet and the Turtle Island Quartet.

The Ying Quartet’s recordings reflect many of the group’s wide-ranging musical interests and have generated consistent, enthusiastic acclaim. The group’s most recent CD, “Re:Imagined” (Sono Luminus), is a creative collaboration with the cellist Zuill Bailey and features familiar works of Schumann and Beethoven cast in a new light. Some of their other noteworthy recordings are “American Anthem,” presenting music of Randall Thompson, Samuel Barber, and Howard Hanson. It was released in 2013 to rave reviews, and their 2007 Telarc release of the three Tchaikovsky Quartets and the Souvenir de Florence (with James Dunham and Paul Katz) was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category. In addition, their much-heralded collaboration with the Turtle Island Quartet, “Four + 4,” explored the common ground between the classic string quartet tradition and jazz and other American vernacular styles, and won a Grammy Award in 2005. “Dim Sum” (Telarc), released in 2008, features music by Chinese-American composers that merges the Western string quartet with the aural world of traditional Chinese music. Released by Quartz, “The Ying Quartet play LifeMusic” was named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine.

The Ying Quartet first came to professional prominence in the early 1990s during their years as resident quartet of Jesup, Iowa, a farm town of 2000 people. Playing before audiences of six to six hundred in homes, schools, churches, and banks, the Quartet had its first opportunities to enable music and creative endeavor to become an integral part of community life. The Quartet considers its time in Jesup the foundation of its present musical life and goals. The residency, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, was widely chronicled in the national media. Toward the end of the residency, the Quartet and several of the townspeople were invited to Capitol Hill to testify before Congress on behalf of the NEA.

During the summers, the Ying Quartet’s activity is primarily centered at music festivals. They are the ensemble-in-residence at the Bowdoin International Music Festival; other festival appearances have been at Tanglewood, Aspen, Ravinia, Caramoor, San Miguel de Allende, Kneisel Hall, Norfolk, Skaneateles, Amelia Island, and Interlochen.

As quartet-in-residence at the renowned Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, the Ying Quartet teaches in the string department and leads a rigorous, sequentially designed chamber music program. One cornerstone of chamber music activity at Eastman is the noted “Music for All” program, in which all students have the opportunity to perform in community settings beyond the concert hall. From 2001-2008, the members of the Ying Quartet were the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University.

The Ying Quartet is represented by MKI.

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