The Ying Quartet is an American

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

. The Ying siblings, from Winnetka, Illinois,Allan Kozinn
Music in Review
''New York Times'' May 21, 1991R. M. Campbell,

" ''Seattle PI,'' Nov 10 2008 formed the quartet in 1988 while studying at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

's Eastman School of Music.Ithaca College,
Concert Season Continues with Ying Quartet
" Oct. 9, 1997 The quartet began performing in the small town of Jesup,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, as the first artists involved in the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Chamber Music Rural Residencies Program. The original members of the quartet were Timothy and Janet Ying (

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s), Phillip Ying (

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

), and David Ying (

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

). In April 2009, Timothy Ying announced his departure from the ensemble. In 2009, Frank Huang became the first violinist of the Ying Quartet. When Huang left the quartet in 2010 to assume the position of concertmaster of the Houston Symphony, Ayano Ninomiya was appointed first violinist of the Ying Quartet."Ying Quartet Welcomes Ayano Ninomiya as First Violinist"
Eastman School of Music, 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-10. Ayano Ninomiya was, in turn, replaced by violinist Robin Scott in 2015. While the Ying Quartet was in Jesup, it won the 1993 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In the years since, the Yings have performed in many major American cities; at numerous festivals, including Tanglewood,

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

, and San Miguel; and in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. The Yings have played in diverse settings, including

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, hospitals, and juvenile prisons. The EMI Classics recording of works by Osvaldo Golijov on which the Ying Quartet appeared with the St. Lawrence Quartet was nominated for a 2003

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. The Quartet was nominated once again for a Grammy in 2007 in the "Best Chamber Music Performance" category for a recording of the three Tchaikovsky Quartets and the Sextet on Telarc. The Quartet won a 2005 Grammy for its collaborative recording with the

Turtle Island String Quartet The Turtle Island Quartet is a string quartet that plays hybrids of jazz, classical, and rock music. The group was formed in 1985 by David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger, and Mark Summer in San Francisco. They released their first album on Windham H ...

, entitled ''4+Four'', and has recorded for the Telarc, Quartz, Elektra, and Albany record labels. In 1999 the Quartet introduced a commissioning project supported by the Institute for American Music designed to produce a distinctively American string quartet repertoire. The project has introduced new quartets by Tod Machover, Michael Torke,

Kevin Puts Kevin Matthew Puts (born January 3, 1972) is an American composer, best known for his opera ''The Hours (opera), The Hours'' and for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera ''Silent Night (opera), Silent Night'' and a Grammy Award i ...

, Carter Pann, Roberto Carnevale, Paquito D’Rivera, Chen Yi, Daniel Kellogg, Augusta Read Thomas, Marina Leonardi,

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

, Jennifer Higdon, and Bernard Rands. With ''Musical Dim Sum'', the Yings have extended their repertoire while celebrating their own cultural heritage by including a selection of short works by Chinese American composers in the framework of a traditional concert. The Ying Quartet teaches actively. It is the quartet-in-residence at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and frequently teaches at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine, and at the Aspen Music Festival.

References

External links

Ying Quartet Internet site

Hear Ying Quartet in concert
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WGBH Radio Boston

Ying Quartet Faculty Page at Eastman School of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ying Quartet People from Winnetka, Illinois Eastman School of Music faculty Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups from Chicago Contemporary classical music ensembles Grammy Award winners American string quartets People from Jesup, Iowa Telarc Records artists