The Ying Quartet, with a reputation for combining brilliant performances with a fearlessly imaginative view of chamber music, will open the North Dakota Museum of Art winter concert series with a performance at 2 p.m. Sunday in Grand Forks.
The concert will be in the North Dakota Museum of Art gallery on the UND campus. Tickets will be $13 for members, $15 for non-members and $5 for students and military at the door. Children middle school age and younger are admitted free.
The series will feature four additional performances: Gao Hong and Butterfly Dec. 4; Hahn-Bin on Jan. 22; Kinan Azmeh and Dinuk Wijeratne on Feb. 19; and Dawn Avery and Steven Alvarez on March 25. Season tickets are $60 for members, $70 for non-members and $20 for students and military personnel.
The NDMOA winter concert series, long rooted in traditional western classical music, will devote this season to a cross pollination of world music and classical music, performed under the title "Hidden Histories, Borrowed Sounds," a news release from NDMOA said.
Formed by four siblings of an American-Chinese family, the Ying Quartet has taught summer workshops in Minot and performed several times at North Dakota Museum of Art. Its musicians have become known for commissioning an array of Chinese American composers to bridge the gap between traditional Chinese music and the avant-garde, served up as Dim Sum, small tastes of new musical ideas, a news release said.
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Today, the Ying Quartet consists of Ayano Ninomiya and Janet Ying on the violin, Phillip Ying on the viola, and David Ying on the cello.
Now in its second decade, the quartet has established itself as an ensemble of the highest musical qualifications in its tours across the United States and abroad. Performances regularly take place in many of the world's most important concert halls, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House.
At the same time, the quartet'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 during its years as resident quartet of Jesup, Iowa, a farm town of 2,000 people. Playing before audiences of six to 600 in homes, schools, churches, and banks, the quartet has its first opportunities to enable music and creative endeavor to become an integral part of community life.
The Winter Concert Series is underwritten by grants from the Myra Foundation and the Knight Foundation Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Region. Additional educational support comes from the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art, with additional contributions from the North Dakota Council on the Arts.
If you'd like to help assure the survival of the concer series, you can become a sponsor for an additional $50. Order your tickets by sending a check or calling (701) 777-4195.
If you go
- What: A classical music concert by the Ying Quartet, the first of the winter concerts at North Dakota Museum of Art
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- When and where: 2 p.m. Sunday, North Dakota Museum of Art, UND campus, Grand Forks
- Tickets: Non-member tickets, $70 for the season, $15 per concert at the door. Member tickets: $60 for the season, $13 per concert at the door. Student and military tickets, $20 for the season, $5 per concert at the door. Children middle school age and younger, free. Tickets available at NDMOA or call (701) 777-4195.
- Other concert series performances: Dec. 4, Gao Hong and Butterfly; Jan. 22, Hahn-Bin; Feb. 19, Kinan Azmeh and Dinuk Wijeratne; March 25, Dawn Avery and Steven Alvarez.
- Monday night in Mayville, N.D.: The Ying Quartet will perform at 7:30 p.m. at Mayville State University Classroom Building Auditorium. Tickets: Adults, $13; high school students, $5; MSU students free with MSU identification. Info: (701) 788-4742.
