From afar, they’re just what you’d expect from a renowned string quartet. They don tuxedos and formal dresses. They perform Mozart and Tchaikovsky. They’ve even performed at Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House. The Ying String Quartet, however, is anything but ordinary.
The quartet will perform a free concert for University of Alabama students at the Frank M. Moody Music Building on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 4 p.m.
According to the Ying String Quartet’s official website, their performances are communicative and interactive with their audiences, something that is not often seen. It’s not only their performance that sets them apart. The quartet has reached beyond playing the typical circuit of concert halls and compositions, often delving into unique works and venues such as everyday workplaces and juvenile prisons.
The quartet has also performed at the White House, and in their recent collaboration with the Turtle Island Quartet, “Four +4,” they broached common ground between classical tradition and jazz and varied American styles, for which they won a Grammy in 2005.
For many years, the quartet had explored a “No Boundaries” concert series, combining their music with actors, dancers, electronics, non-classical musicians, a magician and even a Chinese noodle chef.
Fran Oneal, director of the University of Alabama’s International Honors Program and a board member of the String Quartet Society of Tuscaloosa, played a key role in bringing the quartet to campus. According to Oneal, the society commits to bringing string quartets to Tuscaloosa twice each year and exposing them to UA students.
“It’s part of the cultural life of this campus,” Oneal said. “Students of this age on campus are open to different types of music, different types of speakers… and this is just one element of that.”
Oneal said their quartet performances are typically planned 1-2 years in advance, and a group such as the Ying String Quartet, featuring new composers and showing another side to classical music, is exciting to bring to campus.
“[Classical music] is founded in the classical tradition, but it grows and it evolves over time,” she said. “[The Ying String Quartet] brings different emotion, different modes of expression and a modern feel.”
According to Oneal, these performances have proved good introductions to the genre and allow a complete engagement in the performance, which is not always possible with a large orchestra.
“[Quartets] have been really well-received,” she said. “It’s a very intimate performance between the performers and the audience.”
The Sunday concert is free to all students, provided they present their student ID. The Ying String Quartet will hold a Q-and-A session after the concert.
