Media Contacts:
Bowdoin International Music Festival
Grace Bell, Director of Admissions and Operations
grace@bowdoinfestival.org; (207) 373-1441
Chautauqua Institution
Jordan Steves, Director of Communications
jsteves@chq.org; (716) 597-7936
Eastman School of Music
Jessica Kaufman, Director of Communications
jkaufman@esm.rochester.edu; (585) 278-4743
Internationally renowned string quartet the Ying Quartet, in partnership with Bowdoin International Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution, and the Eastman School of Music, announces four more programs in February and March 2021 featuring selections from the Beethoven String Quartet cycle. These additional performances are part of a series of concerts throughout the 2020/2021 season, in honor of Beethoven’s 250th birthday. The Yings have given the series an overall title borrowed from one of Beethoven’s letters: Only Art Held Me.
The additional programs announced:
- Program 3: Saturday, February 6 at 4 PM; Op. 18, No. 1 and Op. 74 “Harp”
- Program 4: Sunday, February 7 at 4 PM; Op. 18, No. 2 and Op. 18, No. 4
- Program 5: Saturday, March 20 at 4 PM; Op. 95 “Serioso” and Op. 59, No. 3
- Program 6: Sunday, March 21 at 4 PM; Op. 130 with the Grosse Fuge
“We’re excited to carry on “Only Art Held Me” with four additional programs of Beethoven’s unsurpassed quartets,” shares David Ying. “Beethoven’s quartets have been a gift to us, as well as musicians all through the centuries since these pieces were conceived. But no more so than during these past months of isolation. Just as Beethoven’s art held him, so it has for us.”
All concerts in the series will premiere on Chautauqua’s CHQ Assembly video platform and are available on demand for audiences to enjoy on their own time, in addition to the initial viewing. The first two concerts in the series, presented in December 2020 are also available for viewing at this link. Additional concert dates in 2021 will be announced in the upcoming months.
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About Ying Quartet
The Ying Quartet, resident quartet at the Eastman School of Music for the past two decades, is one of America’s best-known string quartets. They have performed widely, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House, and have created award-winning recordings of repertoire ranging from classics to newly composed works to genre crossing projects. They first came to prominence as young alumni of the Eastman School of Music when they won the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and a top prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. At the same time, they were among first recipients of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which supported their residence for two years in the small farm town of Jesup, Iowa.
These twin aspirations— the pursuit of artistic brilliance, and the desire to make classic music relevant to the society in which it exists— have driven the Ying Quartet in its subsequent career. The Quartet continues to perform nationally and internationally and record to acclaim- recognition for the Ying Quartet’s recordings include a Grammy award and four Grammy nominations. At the same time, their touring regularly includes community-oriented events as well as formal performances, and they are proud to make music in everyday life in their hometown of Rochester, NY.
The members of the Ying Quartet are Robin Scott and Janet Ying, violins; Phillip Ying, viola; and David Ying, cello. The Ying Quartet is represented by MKI Artists.
About Bowdoin International Music Festival
The Bowdoin International Music Festival, under the artistic direction of David Ying and Phillip Ying, is one of the world’s premier music institutes located in Brunswick, Maine. Founded in 1964, the Festival engages exceptional students and enthusiastic audiences through world-class education and performances. Each summer, 250 students from more than 20 countries and nearly every state attend the Festival to study with distinguished faculty and guest artists. The Festival has become a leader in presenting online concerts since starting a robust free livestreaming program in 2017 to increase the accessibility of world-class chamber music to both local and global audiences.
About Chautauqua Institution
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer — and year-round through the CHQ Assembly online platforms — with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy Winners, Guggenheim Fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community.
