Ying Quartet
Robin Scott, violin | Janet Ying, violin | Phillip Ying, viola | David Ying, cello
“The ensemble replicated the sounds of water.”
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The Ying Quartet first came to professional prominence as the first recipient of an NEA Rural Residence Grant which enabled them to be the resident quartet of Jesup, Iowa – a farm town of 2,000 people. The Ying went on to serve as quartet in residence at Harvard before finding its home at the Eastman School of Music where the Quartet recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.
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Recent seasons have seen the Ying Quartet perform alongside classically-trained jazz pianist Billy Childs in his quintet written for the Yings, and a genre-defying collaborative program with PUSH Physical Theatre with the Quartet performing on stage together.
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Recent works include Billy Childs’ Awakening; Lera Auerbach’s 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 April 2024, bassist Xavier Foley will team up with the Ying Quartet to perform a quintet written by Xavier for the fivesome that will be performed alongside the Dvorak bass quintet. Both artists are passionate about the next generation of musicians and will include in-person engagement activities with each performance.
The Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet occupies a position of unique prominence in the classical music realm, 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. The Quartet’s performances regularly take place in many of the world's most important concert halls; at the same time, the Ying’s belief that concert music can also be a meaningful part of everyday life has drawn the foursome to perform in settings as diverse as the workplace, schools, juvenile prisons, and the White House.
The Ying Quartet first came to professional prominence in the early 1990s as the first recipient of an NEA Rural Residence Grant, which led to it serving as the resident quartet of Jesup, Iowa, a farm town of 2,000 people. Playing before audiences of six to six hundred in homes, schools, churches, and banks, the Quartet had its first opportunities to use music and creative endeavor to help build community and authentic human connection. The Quartet considers its time in Jesup the foundation of its present musical life and goals.
The Quartet’s upcoming 2025-26 season features appearances with Chamber Music Hamilton, the Feldman Chamber Music Society, Huntsville Chamber Music Guild, Westchester Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society Williamsburg, Chamber Music Society of Utica, Evergreen Woods, and the Port Townsend Chamber Music Series.
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The Ying's ongoing LifeMusic commissioning project, created in response to its 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’s 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 renowned cellist Zuill Bailey, and in that season 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 Ying Quartet's numerous 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; its 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.
As longtime quartet-in-residence at the prestigious 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 curate opportunities to perform in community settings beyond the concert hall. The Quartet is also 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.
The Ying Quartet are Robin Scott and Janet Ying, violins, Phillip Ying, viola and David Ying, cello.
July 2025 – Please do not edit without permission.
Videos
Programs & Repertoire
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PROGRAM I – NATURE
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74, No. 3, “Rider”
Sebastian Currier: Next Atlantis
*****
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2PROGRAM II – ROOTS
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 2
Derek Bermel: Songs of Nameless Ancestors (2023)
*****
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet in F major, Op. 96, “American”COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMS
PROGRAM III – BASS OF OPERATIONS
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in E-flat major, K. 428
Xavier Foley: Quintet, other selections
*****
Antonín Dvořák: String Quintet, Op. 77PROGRAM IV – BILLY CHILDS
Billy Childs: String Quartet No. 2, “Awakening”
Billy Childs: The River, The Bird, and the Storm for string quartet and piano
*****
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet in F major, Op. 96, “American” -
Program I
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in C major, K. 465 “Dissonance”
Billy Childs: Variation on a Rondo
Billy Childs: Oscuro
Billy Childs: Agitato
*****
Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51Program II
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13
Benjamin Britten: String Quartet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 36
*****
Robert Schumann: String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2 -
PROGRAM I
Billy Childs: String Quartet No. 2, "Awakening"
Mozart: String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575
*****
Janacek: String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata”
Haydn: Work TBAPROGRAM II
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Op. 95, "Serioso"
*****
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135UPCOMING COLLABORATIONS & PROJECTS
YING QUARTET + BILLY CHILDS
Billy Childs: Piano Quintet, "The Bird, The River, The Storm"
Billy Childs: String Quartet Selections (Exact Works TBA)
*****
Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105 -OR- Dvořák: String Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106YING QUARTET + PIANO
Howard Hanson: Concerto da Camera in C for Piano and String Quartet, Op. 7
Amy Beach: Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67
*****
Kevin Puts: Piano Quintet (New Commission)YING QUARTET + JON MAMASSE and JON NAKAMATSU
Program TBA
Projects
