Ying Quartet 1
James Lyon, professor in Penn State's School of Music, joined the world-renowned Ying Quartet during their two-day residency at the University Park campus, an educational and artistic venture that was prelude to their performance Friday night (Feb. 13) at Schwab Audtorium.
Ying Quartet 2
Lyon joined in with the Ying Quartet, which is comprised of four sibling from Chicago, as the chamber music performers worked with faculty and students prior to their show.
Ying Quartet 3
Timothy Shafer, professor of music, played piano alongside the Ying Quartet, which visited Penn State for the third time to perform works by American and European composers.
Ying Quartet 4
Phillip Ying, who plays viola in the Ying Quartet, said the Quartet's music can be a meaningful part of everyday life. The Ying Quartet has performed in settings as diverse as the workplace, schools, juvenile prisons and the White House since the three brothers and one sister began playing as an ensemble in 1992. They won the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1993 and are devoted to making chamber music -- the classics and new works -- relevant to everyday life.
Ying Quartet 5
Cellist David Ying and the rest of the Ying Quartet first came to professional prominence in the early 1990's as resident quartet of Jesup, Iowa, a farm town of 2,000 people. The ensemble has been quartet-in-residence at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music since 1996 and at Harvard University since 2001.
Ying Quartet 6
Violinist Janet Ying said the Ying Quartet has a wide range of musical interests, which has generated consistent, enthusiastic acclaim for the ensemble.
Ying Quartet 7
Violinist Timothy Ying and the Ying Quartet are very active during the summer at music festivals. They are the ensemble in residence at the Aspen Music Festival and also performed and taught for several summers at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. The siblings' current program program includes Puccini's Crisantemi, a single-movement elegy written in 1890 in response to the death of the Duke of Savoy; selections from Verdi's String in E minor, the only surviving chamber work by the famous opera composer; compositions by several Chinese-American composers; and Debussy's Quartet in G minor.
