The Ying Quartet, winner of the 1993 Naumburg Chamber Music Award, the quartet's original members included Timothy Ying and Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola; and David Ying, cello. The Ying siblings, from Winnetka, Illinois, formed the quartet in 1988 while studying at the Eastman School of Music.
The ensemble occupies a position of unique prominence in the classical music world, combining brilliantly communicative performances with a fearlessly imaginative view of chamber music in today's world. Now in its third decade, 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; 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 ongoing 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 Ying Quartet commissions both established and emerging composers to create music that reflects contemporary American life. Recent works include Billy Childs' Awakening; Lera Auerbach' Sylvia's Diary; Lowell Liebermann's String Quartet No. 3, To the Victims of War; Sebastian Currier's Next Atlantis; and John Novacek's Three Rags for String Quartet. In August 2016 the Ying Quartet released a new Schumann/ Beethoven recording on Sono Luminus with the cellist Zuill Bailey, and in 2016-17 the five toured with the Schumann Cello Concerto transcribed for cello and string quartet along with Beethoven's "Kreutzer Sonata" also reimagined for cello quintet. The 2018-19 season featured performances with the jazz pianist Billy Childs, a tour of China, performances for the Philadelphia and Phoenix Chamber Music Societies, and performances in the group's role as quartet-in-residence at the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
The Ying Quartet's many other recordings reflect many of the group's wide-ranging musical interests and have generated consistent, enthusiastic acclaim. The group's CD "American Anthem" (Sono Luminus), heralding the music of Randall Thompson, Samuel Barber, and Howard Hanson, was released in 2013 to rave reviews; 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. The Ying Quartet won a 2005 Grammy for its collaborative recording with the Turtle Island String Quartet, entitled 4+Four.
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. They were the first artists involved in the National Endowment for the Arts Chamber Music Rural Residencies Program. 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.
In 1999 the Quartet introduced a commissioning project supported by the Institute for American Music designed to produce distinctively American string quartet repertoire. The project has introduced new quartets by Tod Machover, Michael Torke, Kevin Puts, Paquito D'Rivera, Chen Yi, Daniel Kellogg, Augusta Read Thomas, Ned Rorem, 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 traditional concert.
As quartet-in-residence at the 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. The Quartet is the ensemble-in-residence at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and from 2001-2008, the members of the Ying Quartet were the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University.
In April 2009, Timothy Ying announced his departure from the ensemble. Frank Huang became the first violinist in 2009, leaving the quartet in 2010 to assume the position of concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. Ayano Ninomiya was appointed first violinist who was, in turn, replaced by violinist Robin Scott in 2015. In 2025, the members of the Ying Quartet include Robin Scott and Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola; and David Ying, cello.
As part of its Naumburg Award, the Ying Quartet was given a Naumburg commission by Ralph Shapey, his String Quartet No. VIII (1993) that received its world premiere on October 25, 1994 in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on the Quartet's Naumburg concert.
Naumburg Concert, October 25, 1994, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
Ying Quartet, 1993 Namburg Chamber Music Award Winner
Timothy Ying and Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola; and David Ying, cello
Program
Beethoven: Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1
Ralph Shapey: String Quartet No. VIII (1993) World premiere and Naumburg commission
Dvorak: Quartet in A-flat Major, Op. 105
Program note by Ralph Shapey
After very many years (73) I've come to dislike 'program notes.' It seems to me that they are usually excuses and rationalizations for the piece. I firmly believe that music is an auditory art, not a bunch of theories, or even descriptions. Detailed 'program notes," I believe, actually get in the way of the music; like most conductors get in the way of the music they are conducting.
So instead of program notes I send only my credo:
In lectures to audiences over the years, I have stated: "Bring your brains, your humanity to a concert and leave your prejudices at home!
Excerpt from The New York Times review, October 27, 1994
A String Quartet of True Fraternity
"String quartet players need not be siblings to produce a perfectly blended sound or to perform with complete unity of interpretive purpose, but fraternity seems not to hurt. The Ying String Quartet - Timothy, Janet, Phillip and David Ying -- produces a dark, sumptuous sound and moves as one. Those qualities undoubtedly helped it win the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition last year, and they made the quartet's concert on Tuesday evening both riveting and uplifting.
Ralph Shapey's String Quartet No. 8, Mr. Shapey is an interesting old trickster. He begins each movement with a bleak patch of academic angularity and then gradually reveals a truly lyrical and sometimes arch-Romantic impulse. Once past the introductory thorns, a listener is rewarded with long-lined melodies, inventive chord progressions, introspective intensity and humourous asides...The Yings lavished the full richness of their tone and sensitivity on the piece..." Allan Kozinn
"The Ying Quartet came as close to the ideal as possible, delivering chamber music of astonishing, refreshing exaltation and exhilaration." The Los Angeles Times
Ying Quartet in 2025 -- Robin Scott and Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola
and David Ying, cello.
1993 Chamber Music Competition
First Prize
Ralph Shapey: Quartet No. 8
