Welcome
Min Yang is a Professor at the China Conservatory of Music, Head of Chamber Music and Orchestra Studies.
About Min Yang
Min Yang was born into a musical family in Beijing. She started to play the violin from the age of five and gave her first public concert the following year. She entered the attached primary school of the Central Conservatory of Music at the age of 8, later on attended the Conservatory itself.
After her studies in China, Min Yang was offered a full scholarship by the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Over the next two years she gave a number of recitals across England and Wales whilst studying with Russian violinist Lydia Mordkovitch. She graduated with Diplomas of “Advanced studies in Musical Performance” and “Professional Performance”.
Min Yang worked with the B.B.C. Philharmonic Orchestra after she finished her studies at the R.N.C.M. Three years later, she was appointed as Assistant Concert Master with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since then, Min Yang has been invited as guest Concert Master with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the B.B.C. Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and guest co-master with the Hallé Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Min Yang held the No.4 position in the first violins in the London Symphony Orchestra for five years, as well as giving solo recitals, concertos, chamber music concerts throughout Europe, Far East, and the Middle East.
Min Yang has left the LSO to tour with her piano trio – the MinTrio (Principal players of the LSO), also performing as a soloist, as well as teaching and giving master classes around the world.
She is currently a Professor at the China Conservatory of Music, Head of Chamber Music and Orchestra Studies, and 2nd Violin in The China Quartet.
Min plays on a 1740 Italian violin Calcanius.
The Diapason Quartet
Bin Huang, First Violin
Min Yang, Second Violin
Born Lau, Viola
Xin Shi, Cello
The Diapason Quartet brings together four of the most talented musicians in China. Each member of the Quartet is an established musician in their own right, who have decided to collaborate to further their horizons. Members of the Quartet are Professors at the China Conservatory of Music. Since the end of 2019 the Diapason Quartet has embarked on a grand tour of concerts to celebrate the Year of Beethoven by performing the complete Beethoven String Quartet Cycle.
Bin Huang, Violinist:
Bin Huang, one of the most outstanding violinists from China, first came to international attention when she won the Junior Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Lublin, Poland at age fourteen. She has maintained international prominence, winning both the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy, and the Munich (ARD) International Music Competition in Munich, Germany.
Bin Huang’s concert career has taken her throughout the world, performing in five continents at important venues and festivals. Bin Huang has recorded numerous recordings for Naxos, Dynamic, and MDG labels. She served as a jury member in the 53rd and 55th Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy. She will be the Chairman of Jury at the China International Music Competition in 2020. Bin Huang was a violin professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music. She is currently the Director of Orchestral Instruments Department at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
Min Yang - Violinist:
Min Yang was born into a musical family in Beijing. She started to play the violin from the age of five and gave her first public concert the following year. She entered the attached primary school of the Central Conservatory of Music at the age of 8, later on attended the Conservatory itself.
After her studies in China, Min Yang was offered a full scholarship by the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Over the next two years she gave a number of recitals across England and Wales whilst studying with Russian violinist Lydia Mordkovitch.
She graduated with Diplomas of “Advanced studies in Musical Performance” and “Professional Performance”. Min Yang worked with the B.B.C. Philharmonic Orchestra after she finished her studies at the R.N.C.M. Three years later, she was appointed as Assistant Concert Master with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since then, Min Yang has been invited as guest Concert Master with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the B.B.C. Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and guest co-master with the Hallé Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Min Yang held the No.4 position in the first violins in the London Symphony Orchestra for five years, as well as giving solo recitals, concertos, chamber music concerts throughout Europe, Far East, and the Middle East. She is currently the Head of Chamber Music and Orchestral Studies at the China Conservatory of Music.
Xin SHI, Cellist:
One of the most exciting Chinese cellists of his generation, Xin SHI (史鑫) has been coined “a superb cellist and a serious musician” by the likes of Natalia Gutman and David Geringas.
Shi received initial training in cello performance at the Middle School affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, under the tutelage of Professor Wen MA. After winning a national cello competition as well as Second Prize (first prize vacant), Junior Section, of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in 2008, Shi entered the Central Conservatory of Music. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, USA the following year, studying with both Carter Brey (Principal Cello, New York Philharmonic) and Peter Wiley, Cellist of the Guarneri String Quartet. He also received instruction in chamber music performance from world-renowned figures such as Pamela Frank, Shmuel Ashkenasi and Ida Kavafian (violin), Roberto Diaz (viola), and Gary Graffman.
He was invited to perform at the Kronberg Academy Cello Festival in 2010, and was semi-finalist in the prestigious Emanuel Feuermann “Grand Prix”. Even as a student, he already had the opportunity to perform in venues as diverse as the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie and the United States Capitol, and with individuals such as Graffman and the Guarneri String Quartet first violinist Arnold Steinhardt. He rounded up his formal education with a Master’s Degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Germany, in 2017. He joined the Belgian National Orchestra as Vice-Principal Cello immediately after, and gained valuable experience working with leading conductors of our time including Sir Simon Rattle, Charles Dutoit, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Shi returned to his motherland to join, without probation, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra as Vice-Principal Cello in 2018. He simultaneously pursued a soloist and teaching career, founding the Shenzhen-based Apeiros Quartet in 2019 and performing not only in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but also Germany. He became a full-time soloist and teacher in 2020, and has repeatedly been invited to serve as Acting Principal Cello of Chinese orchestras such as the Guiyang Symphony and the Qingdao Symphony. He was invited to join leading violinist Professor Bin HUANG (黄滨) in performing a Beethoven String Quartet cycle in the same year. He most recently performed as solo cellist in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto together with pianist Haochen ZHANG (张昊辰), violinist Yun TANG (唐韵), and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra conducted by Biao LI (李飚).
Born Lau - Violist:
Praised for his “immaculately refined” playing (The Philadelphia Inquirer), violist Born Lau has appeared internationally both as a soloist and chamber musician. A prizewinner of the Primrose International Viola Competition and the Astral National Auditions, he enjoys a career spanning three continents. Career highlights include performances as a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and Trondheim Soloists, performance at the Henry A. Kissinger Prize ceremony in Berlin, and a concert with the esteemed Tokyo String Quartet in Los Angeles. Lau has served as Principal Violist of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, as well as Guest Principal Violist of San Diego Symphony and Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.
Lau received his education from the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Colburn Conservatory of Music. He has studied with viola teachers including Roberto Diaz, Paul Coletti and Richard Fleischman. Chamber music studies with members of the Emerson, Guarneri and Tokyo String Quartets.
As an educator, Lau has given viola master classes throughout the world, including the Royal Academy of Music, Soochow University, the New World School of the Arts, Washington Conservatory of Music, and the Baptist University. He has recently been appointed as the Professor of Viola at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
