Ying Quartet Is Returning To Newtown For Concert &_Outreach Program

For the third concert of the 23rd season Newtown Friends of Music will bring back the captivating Ying Quartet for its third appearance in concert in the auditorium at Edmond Town Hall. The quartet will perform in Newtown on Sunday, November 19, at 3 pm.

The day after their concert, the quartet members have graciously agreed to spend Monday with students in the Newtown school system for the inaugural session of Newtown Friends of Music’s Outreach Program. The musicians will guide the next generation down the music path to inspire continued growth and to offer the school’s own scholars a rare opportunity to share in a joint school performance.

The members of this remarkable quartet were born and raised in Chicago and began their career as an ensemble in 1992 in the farm town of Jessup, Iowa (population 2,000), and became the first recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts grant to support chamber music in rural America. The Ying lived in Jessup for two years, performing throughout the community for audiences of 6 to 600 in schools, businesses, churches, civic meetings, community centers and homes.

The quartet’s success in making artistic and creative expressions an essential part of everyday life of the Jessup community was widely chronicled in both the national and international media, including feature articles in The New York Times and STRAD magazine, along with coverage on CBS Sunday Morning.

While still living and working in Jessup, the Ying won the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music award and has since established an international reputation for excellence in performance and has won the hearts of Newtown’s audiences as well.

Phillip, Janice, Timothy and David Ying have appeared in virtually every American city as well as in England, Germany, France, Australia and Japan. Summer festivals have included Tanglewood, Aspen, and many others. Their passion is for performing in diverse settings. In maintaining a strong commitment to contemporary music the quartet performs newly commissioned works every season.

The Ying now lives in Rochester and is quartet-in-residence at Eastman School of Music, where they design and direct rigorous sequential chamber music curriculum that includes creative presentation, and practical performance opportunities throughout the greater Rochester community.

For the recital on November 19 the program will include Quartet in E-flat, Op. 125, No. D.87 by Franz Schubert; Quartet No. 1 in B minor, Op 50 by Prokofiev; and after the intermission, Quartet in E-flat minor, Op. 30 by Tchaikovsky.

Free parking and handicap access are available at Edmond Town Hall. Light refreshments will be served following the performance to give the audience an opportunity to speak with the artists in an informal setting.

Tickets for the concert by Ying String Quartet will be available at the box office in the theater one hour before the start of concert. Tickets for adults are $14, $12 for seniors and students. Children between the ages of five and 14 are welcome and admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticket holding adult.

For further information and reservations call 426-6470 or write to Newtown Friends of Music at PO Box 295, Newtown, CT 06470-0295.