David Ying is best-known to concert audiences as the cellist of the Ying Quartet. The Quartet’s professional life began in the small farming community of Jesup, Iowa where the four siblings lived and worked for two years as recipients of a grant from the NEA. During that time they won the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and embarked on a national and international performing schedule. From New York to Sydney, they continue to present concerts in many of the world’s important musical centers. In addition, they have appeared in many notable festivals, including Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Caramoor, Norfolk and the Festival de Musica de Camera in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Because of their unusually wide performing interests, they also play at unexpected concert sites: factories, schools, prisons, and many other non-traditional venues. The Quartet has also performed at the White House at the invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton.

More recently, Mr. Ying performs frequently as solo cellist. He has appeared with such orchestras as the Oakland East-Bay Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the String Orchestra of the Rockies, and the Rochester Chamber Orchestra. With his wife, pianist Elinor Freer, he is heard in recital across the United States. They are also Co-Artistic Directors of the Skaneateles Festival in New York. This year Mr. Ying was nominated for a Grammy Award for a recording with the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Mr. Ying has won numerous awards as a solo cellist, including prizes in the Naumburg International Cello Competition, the Washington International Competition, and a diploma at the Tchaikovsky International Cello Competition. He holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music and is currently on the chamber music and cello faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. With the Ying Quartet, he is also presently Blodgett artist in residence at Harvard University.

A native of Montana, pianist Elinor Freer has built a versatile career as soloist and chamber musician, performing across the United States, Europe, and China. In Europe, Ms. Freer has given multiple performances at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and appeared at the Valery Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam. Other highlights include successive recordings for Dutch radio, performances at the International Musicians’ Seminar in Prussia Cove, England, and concerts at the Akademie Muizicky Chumeni in Prague under sponsorship of the Dutch government. She was also one of two American pianists selected to perform extensively throughout China in tours designed to promote cultural relations between the US and China. Ms. Freer has been featured as soloist with numerous orchestras including the String Orchestra of the Rockies, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, the Kingsport Symphony, the Dekalb Symphony, and others. A prizewinner in competitions such as the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition and the American Pianists Association, Ms. Freer has held fellowships at the Steans Insitute/Ravinia Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center. Committed to bringing classical music to new audiences, she has presented a multitude of educational and community performances across the country in settings ranging from inner city schools to psychiatric hospitals. Ms. Freer has served on the piano faculties of Fort Hays State University and the University of Missouri and is currently Assistant Professor at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. In addition to her teaching duties at Eastman, Ms. Freer also serves as director of “Music for All,” Eastman’s innovative program that trains and enables the students to bring their music into schools and community venues in greater Rochester. Together with her husband, cellist David Ying, she also holds the post of Co-Artistic Director of the Skaneateles Festival in Central New York.