LifeMusic

We have undertaken a long-term project we call LifeMusic that connects the music we make with the American experience and issues of our time. With the support of the Institute of American Music, we commission two works per year, one from an established and one from an emerging composer. Each composer is asked to write a quartet that is inspired by some dimension of the American experience – perhaps a literary, historical or musical source or a significant and enduring issue. With these commissions, we seek to produce an ongoing series of works from living American composers that is not only inspired somehow by life in America, but also reflects the highest standards of musical excellence.

The idea of LifeMusic grows directly from the experience of the Ying Quartet. Our mission has always been twofold: to make classical music a relevant and vital part of American culture in all its diversity and to do so with the highest standards of artistic integrity. Whether we are performing in Carnegie Hall or the White House, teaching at the Eastman School of Music or spending a week in Helena, Montana, the Quartet is committed to exploring the many ways in which great music can impact and transform our daily lives. LifeMusic is intended to be suitable both in the concert hall and in community settings as an effective manifestation of that powerful connection between music and life.