IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please note that the Ying Quartet performance date remains Sunday Feb. 11.
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REVIEWS “The Ying Quartet is
an ensemble of true artists and they proved Sunday by making sense
for the audience of a difficult string quartet by Bela Bartok. ...
the Yings spoke the language of this knotty work revealing its sonic
beauty. And the audience responded with an enthusiasm normally reserved
for traditional virtuoso blockbusters.” “The immaculate musicianship
of this quartet that literally breathes lines together fuses at
a unique level of psychic energy. "The Ying siblings...exemplify
the success young instrumentalists of Asian heritage have earned
in this country. More to the point, the Yings play with the poise,
insight and enthusiasm that makes allies of us all....The Yings
were playing with opulent tone in which colors swirled in precisely
judged proportion." "...the quartet's stellar
interaction and interpretation drew an enthusiastic response....
Spirited playing, impeccable synchronization and astounding grasp
of difficult material...." "...the Ying Quartet
came as close to the ideal as possible, delivering chamber music
of astonishing, refreshing exaltation and exhilaration. [They] produce
a warm, flexible mid-weight sound that they wield with great intelligence,
accuracy and flair." "...this quartet of three
brothers and a sister exerts an enormous appeal before even playing
a note. ...They still performed with that seemingly effortless smoothness
of ensemble that made every note flow as if the product of a single
mind. But a new edginess in their playing gave added thrust to their
interpretations." "...the Ying Quartet...is
so accomplished that it could likely perform a random sampling of
the repertoire and still emerge triumphant. This is a formidable
group of siblings, who brought great intelligence and fervor to
all their material "These four Midwestern
siblings play together with high energy, awesome coordination and
precise intonation; they are young, but they have learned all that
can be taught about playing their instruments and about performing
together." |
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| Tim Ying, Violin; Janet Ying, Violin; Dave Ying, Cello; Phil Ying, Viola The Ying Quartet The four Ying siblings from Chicago are the quartet in residence at Harvard and Eastman. They won the Naumburg Award in 1993, a Grammy in 2006, and are leaders in commissioning new works and bringing the joy of chamber music to a wide public. The Los Angeles Times said, “The Ying Quartet came as close to the ideal as possible, delivering chamber music of astonishing, refreshing exaltation and exhilaration.” Now in its second decade, the Ying Quartet continues to develop ways of making artistic and creative expression an essential part of everyday life. Their current projects in this direction include an innovative visiting residency at Symphony Space in New York City connecting music with other art forms, including dance, poetry, and film; an exploration with the Turtle Island String Quartet of jazz, improvisation and the classical string quartet tradition; and a variety of visiting residencies on campuses and in communities across the United States. Natives of Chicago, the Ying siblings began their career as an ensemble in 1992 in the farm town of Jesup, Iowa (population 2000) as the first artists involved in the National Endowment for the Arts Chamber Music Rural Residencies Program. The Quartet participated fully in the community, performing on countless occasions for audiences of six to six hundred people in a residency so successful that it was widely chronicled in the national and international media, including features in The New York Times and STRAD magazine and on CBS Sunday Morning. While the Quartet was in Jesup, its exceptional musical qualities earned it the 1993 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In the years since, the Yings have established an international reputation for excellence in performance with appearances in virtually every major American city; at numerous festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen and San Miguel; and in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan and Taiwan. The Yings’ enthusiasm for performing in diverse settings has led to concerts in Carnegie Hall, the White House, hospitals and juvenile prisons. Frequent musical collaborations have included such artists as Menahem Pressler, Paul Katz, Gilbert Kalish, Jon Nakamatsu, and the St. Lawrence and Turtle Island String Quartets. The EMI Classics recording of works by Osvaldo Golijov on which the Ying Quartet appears with the St. Lawrence Quartet was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award. In 1999, the Quartet introduced LifeMusic, a multiyear commissioning project supported by the Institute for American Music, designed to produce a distinctively American string quartet repertoire. Each season, a pair of new works by established and emerging composers is featured in the Yings’ diverse performance activities. Thus far the project has introduced new quartets by Michael Torke, Kevin Puts, Carter Pann, Paquito D’Rivera, Chen Yi, Daniel Kellogg, Augusta Read Thomas, and Ned Rorem. Music by Jennifer Higdon and Bernard Rands will be premiered in the 2003-2004 season. Quartz Records will begin releasing LifeMusic works late in 2003. With “Musical Dim Sum,” the Yings continue to extend their repertoire of innovative programming concepts while celebrating their own cultural heritage. On these programs, the Quartet includes a selection of short works by Chinese American composers in the framework of a traditional concert, giving audiences the treat of a diverse sampling of this music. The Quartet plans to commission new works by composers of Chinese background living around the globe to join existing pieces by Chou Wen-Chung, Zhou Long, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, and Chen Yi. As Quartet in Residence at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, the Ying Quartet plans and directs a rigorous, sequential chamber music curriculum that integrates intensive musical instruction with training in creative presentation and communication skills, and includes practical performance opportunities throughout the greater Rochester community. The Quartet has also taught at Northwestern University and at the Interlochen and Brevard Music Festivals, and since 2001, the members of the Ying Quartet have been the Blodgett Artists in Residence at Harvard University. |