News

NEWS | Eastern Michigan University College of Arts and Sciences announces new McAndless Distinguished Professor Chair – the world-renowned Formosa Quartet

The quartet's residency will include live events open to the public

Media Contact:
Melissa Thrasher
mthrashe@emich.edu
734-487-4401

May 10, 2023

Written by:
Victoria Scott

YPSILANTI — Eastern Michigan University College of Arts and Science is proud to announce the Formosa Quartet as the 2023-2024 McAndless Distinguished Professor Chair in the Humanities. The Formosa Quartet is an acclaimed American string quartet, first prize and Amadeus Prize winners at the 10th Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. The quartet’s residency at EMU is scheduled for Jan. 14-20 and March 31 - April 6, 2024. It includes a series of conversations, open rehearsals and performances, designed and performed in part by EMU faculty and students.

Each year, EMU’s College of Arts and Sciences hosts a nominated McAndless Distinguished Professor Chair who is a scholar, writer, or artist of national prominence in the arts or humanities. The chair shares a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise with the EMU community and general public through a series of events and classes. 

In 2023-2024, the Formosa Quartet will launch the “American Mirror Project,” in which Eastern Michigan University will participate. This project examines the assumptions and perceptions found within American culture through the lens of music and performing arts. 

“The project revolves around two primary questions: What is ‘America’ and how would you mirror or respond to ‘America’ in your creative practice,” said Deborah Pae, Formosa Quartet cellist and associate professor of cello at EMU. “By nature, such an examination is deeply inclusive of every voice in America. Through thought-provoking and dynamic musical performances, this project is an opportunity for the Formosa Quartet to showcase our evolving reflections on these questions while creating a platform to mirror others and their communities and the places where these performances happen.”

The Formosa Quartet invites EMU students, educators and community members across disciplines to reflect on these questions and, in answering what America is to them, broaden ways they mirror “America” in their creative practice. 

 “Many activities hosted during the residency will be open to the public,” said Jim Egge, associate dean for programs at EMU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “We look forward to welcoming the Southeast Michigan community to the stunning Pease Auditorium for our main events.” 

The ensemble has built and sustained an astounding career for over two decades, using the string quartet to support advocacy, storytelling, community-building, and innovation. They have performed in major concert venues, including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., Taipei’s National Concert Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Kammermusiksaal at the Berliner Philharmonie. Their commitment to arts advocacy and diversity, starting with its founding members' interest in championing Taiwanese music, particularly traditions of Indigenous cultures, has since expanded to include exploring rich folk traditions and heritages found in America today.

Thanks to the generous support of private donors and the provost's office, the College has scheduled two weeks of residency for the Formosa Quartet. Donations to the Formosa Quartet Residency Fund may be made through the Foundation website.

EMU community members interested in participating in the program and professors interested in integrating the “American Mirror Project” into their winter 2024 classes may contact EMU Associate Dean James Egge or Professor Deborah Pae.

 

About Eastern Michigan University
Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 14,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and its graduate school. National publications regularly recognize EMU for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. Visit the University’s rankings and points of pride websites to learn more. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website. To stay up to date on University news, activities and announcements, visit EMU Today.

REVIEW | "The Formosa Quartet Plays Both For and With the Art of Elan Audience"

Gary Payne Photogrpahy

The Formosa Quartet received a glowing review from the San Diego Story following their Art of Élan performance at the San Diego Museum of Art! Below is an excerpt from the review, “The Formosa Quartet Plays Both For and With the Art of Elan Audience,” published on March 16, 2023:

…the Formosa Quartet took center stage to play Derrick Skye’s 2017 American Mirror, Part II, a clever, intricate piece that required audience participation (!), followed by a set of four commissioned works based on contrasting styles of American popular music titled American Roadmap.

In contrast to the title of Derrick Skye’s American Mirror title, the portion of the work played by the Formosa Quartet is based on classical Indian rhythmic and melodic traditions, and it also involves clapping by both the performers and members of the audience to flesh out its sharply defined rhythmic contours. Before the work began when Formosa Quartet violist Matthew Cohen was teaching the audience its own clapping patterns and accompanying gestures, I was filled with apprehension. To get an audience at a classical music performance to do anything together but listen attentively is a massive challenge.

Yet, towards the end of Skye’s virtuoso composition for string quartet—in which various quartet members had already engaged in much intermittent complex rhythmic clapping—when Cohen signaled the audience to do its part, they responded with such clean precision that I sat in astonishment!

I was not astonished at the Formosa Quartet’s commanding performance of Skye’s quartet: from first violinist Jasmine Lin’s bravura flourishes to second violinist Wayne Lee’s lithe cantabile lines, to Cohen’s bold solos and cellist Deborah Pae’s burnished, inviting bass lines. Their performances with Art of Elan in 2015 and 2016 were most impressive, and their return is truly welcome.

Read the full concert review here!

NEWS | Formosa Quartet Named Quartet-in-Residence at Moores School of Music, University of Houston

Formosa Quartet Named Quartet-in-Residence at Moores School of Music

FQ will begin their residency at UH in the Fall of 2023


HOUSTON, TX | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
--- Four familiar faces will join the University of Houston scene this fall as the internationally acclaimed Formosa Quartet becomes the Quartet-in-Residence at the Moores School of Music.

The appointment will include regular visits by the Formosa Quartet to the Moores School of Music each year. The appointment supports the School’s string and chamber music programs, with individual ensemble coaching, master classes and public performances, including appearances at the Moores Music in the City Series at Christ Church Cathedral, where the residency will be announced during a concert on February 18th by the Dean of the McGovern College of the Arts, Andrew Davis.

“This appointment takes the already nationally known faculty and programs in strings and chamber music in the Moores School of Music and elevates them to the next level,” says Davis. “Students of the Moores School will be the real beneficiaries of having artists of this caliber in regular residence, and the Formosa Quartet now adds one more reason for students to come to the Moores School of Music.”

Associate Professor of Violin and Head of the Moores School’s String Division Dr. Kirsten Yon adds, “In the past several years, over the course of multiple visits, the quartet has formed lasting bonds with the faculty and students of the Moores School of Music. We are looking forward to the future of our partnership and we're delighted to welcome these virtuosic artists with programming and events centered around community, collaboration, and joyful music-making.”

Equally impressive as individual concert artists, the members of the Formosa Quartet are violinists Jasmine Lin and Wayne Lee, violist Matthew Cohen and cellist Deborah Pae. The Quartet formed in 2002 when the four Taiwanese-descended founders came together for a concert tour of Taiwan. Since its founding, the cultural identity of the Quartet has expanded to include broader American, pan-Asian, and Eastern European influences, and they are known for concerts that include curated sets of folk, pop, jazz and poetry arrangements, and for their recent sociocultural exploration of American music and culture in their “American Mirror Project.”

Their appointment will allow students to study with a culturally rich ensemble, and will add the Moores School of Music’s name to the Quartet’s already impressive list of residencies and teaching engagements at major universities and conservatories across North America and Asia.

During one of the Quartet’s recent visits to the Moores School of Music, Cello Performance major Oshagan Merjanian said that “spending time with The Formosa Quartet was an incredibly inspiring and literally uplifting experience. Their world-class musicianship is astounding, and their humility to interact with students at our level is cherished. There was no air of loftiness, and their disposition was respectful, nurturing, benevolent, and expectant of progress. I certainly feel my outlook has expanded and playing has improved because of their residency.”

Bernini Chan, a DMA student in Violin Performance, added, “the Formosa Quartet has once again leveled up my ability to share my music with sounds and words! The interaction they had with audiences during their concert was eye-opening and totally inspired me with fresh ideas to plan my own chamber group’s community outreach performance. I am already looking forward to them coming back next semester!”

“On stage and in the classroom, the Formosa Quartet brings imagination to life, and their dynamic, energetic presence is yet another reason for students to choose the University of Houston,” added Yon.

You can hear the Formosa Quartet in concert in the Blaffer Museum at the University of Houston on February 16, and at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston on February 18.

From left to right: FQ members Matthew Cohen, Deborah Pae, Wayne Lee, and Jasmine Lin

CONCERT DETAILS

Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston Main Campus
4173 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004

Saturday, February 18, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Ave, Houston, TX 77002

ABOUT THE MOORES SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The Moores School of Music’s mission at the University of Houston’s Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts is to provide an outstanding comprehensive music education on the undergraduate and graduate levels, overseen by a faculty and staff second-to-none; to continue to develop recognition of the school at the local, national, and international levels in order to attract students of the highest caliber; and to provide the university community and the city with the highest quality performances that will both educate and entertain.

ABOUT THE FORMOSA QUARTET

Winners of the First Prize and Amadeus Prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the Formosa Quartet (FQ) is “one of the very best quartets of their generation” (David Soyer, cellist; Guarneri Quartet). Hailed as “spellbinding” (The Strad) and “remarkably fine” (Gramophone), the ensemble has given critically acclaimed performances at the Library of Congress, the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Wigmore Hall in London, die Glocke Bremen, and the Kammermusiksaal at the Berliner Philharmonie.

For two decades and counting, the Formosa Quartet has forged uncharted musical terrain in performances that go “beyond the beautiful and into the territory of unexpectedly thrilling… like shots of pure espresso” (MUSO Magazine). The founding members’ interest in championing Taiwanese music and Indigenous cultures has since expanded to include the exploration of the rich folk traditions and heritages found in America today. Whether in its uncompromisingly exploratory approach to the standard quartet literature; its socioculturally probing American Mirror Project; or its exclusive collection of folk, pop, jazz, and poetry arrangements, Formosa Quartet is committed to an insatiable search for the fresh and new in string quartet expression.

The Formosa Quartet undertakes a variety of residencies at organizations and institutions across North America and Asia. FQ is Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYOC), holds week-long performance and teaching residencies at the University of Houston and Eastern Michigan University, and has enjoyed residencies at Art of Élan; Rice University; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of California, San Diego.

The Formosa Quartet has played a leading role in actively commissioning new works, contributing significantly to the modern string quartet repertory. FQ’s 2019 milestone album From Hungary to Taiwan includes premiere recordings of three Formosa commissions: Lei Liang’s Song Recollections, Dana Wilson’s Hungarian Folk Songs, and Wei-Chieh Lin’s Five Taiwanese Folk Songs. Other works composed for the quartet include pieces by Dana Wilson, Wei-Chieh Lin, Shih-Hui Chen, and Clancy Newman.

The members of the Formosa Quartet – Jasmine Lin, Wayne Lee, Matthew Cohen, and Deborah Pae – have established themselves as leading solo, chamber, and orchestral musicians. With degrees from the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music; they have performed in major venues throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe, and have been top prizewinners in prestigious competitions such as the Paganini, Primrose, Fischoff, and Naumburg competitions. As chamber musicians, they have appeared regularly at the Marlboro, Kingston, Santa Fe, and Ravinia festivals, as well as at Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Caramoor, and Chamber Music Northwest. The members of the Formosa Quartet currently serve on faculty at Eastern Michigan University, Roosevelt University, and Heifetz International Music Institute. They have previously taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Taos School of Music, and the Juilliard School.

Formed in 2002 when the four Taiwanese-descended founders came together for a concert tour of Taiwan, the Formosa Quartet’s cultural identity has since expanded to include broader American, pan-Asian, and Eastern European roots. Their name “Formosa” is taken in its most basic sense: Portuguese for “beautiful.”

The Formosa Quartet forms an octet with violins Andrea Guarneri (1662) and Joseph Curtin (2001), a Peter Westerlund viola (2014), and a Vincenzo Postiglione cello (1885).

ABOUT KATHRINE G. MCGOVERN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

The University of Houston’s Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts is a premier institution for education, scholarship, and innovation in the arts, where every day we are cultivating the next generation of creative professionals and unlocking the potential of the arts to impact society and change the world. Our students are forging new frontiers and advancing the arts through academic excellence, innovative programming, and—together with our world renown faculty—ascending to the highest level of contemporary professional practice. Houston is a first choice for the arts. Houston is a city of culture and diversity, a quintessential arts destination, and a gateway to the international arts community. Steeped in the richness of diverse cultures, Houston and its engaging community network provide a citywide laboratory for research, education, and practice in the performing and visual arts.

Rebeca Hawley-Trejo, Senior Media Relations Specialist, University of Houston
713-743-6773
rtrejo@central.uh.edu

Stephanie Williams, Communications Manager, Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
scwilli3@central.uh.edu

Kayly M. Scott, Director of Marketing & Communications, Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
713-743-9458
kmscott@central.uh.edu

Robert Besen, General Management, Formosa Quartet
646-729-7121
robert@besenarts.com

NEWS | Matthew Cohen Appointed Violist of Formosa Quartet

From left to right: Matthew Cohen (viola), Deborah Pae (cello), Wayne Lee (violin), and Jasmine Lin (violin)

The internationally acclaimed Formosa Quartet (FQ), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this season, has named Ukrainian-American violist Matthew Cohen to its ensemble. Cohen will succeed violist and founding member Cheyen Chen.

Cohen is a dynamic and versatile artist whose captivating performances have made him one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. A prizewinner at the Primrose International Viola Competition and the Citta di Cremona International Viola Competition in Italy, he has concertized throughout the United States and Europe as a soloist with ensembles including the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, I Virtuosi Italiani, the Juilliard Orchestra, Oregon Sinfonietta, and Symphony in C, and has appeared in recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Particularly interested in advocating for the viola as a unique voice, Cohen is challenging the misconception that the viola has a limited repertoire by bringing attention to lesser-known gems as well as arrangements of other masterworks.

On joining the Formosa Quartet, Matthew shared, “From the very first time that I played with the Formosa Quartet, I could tell that there was something incredibly special there. Making music together came so naturally, and there was such a wonderful sense of mutual respect and trust. Wayne, Jasmine and Deborah are all such absolutely amazing musicians and people; it has been so inspiring getting to know them and making music with them. While I was new to the group and they'd played together for years, I felt such a sense of openness and willingness to accept me into the group that I felt immediately at home. I couldn't be prouder to be joining the Formosa Quartet and am so excited for our journey together!”

In a joint statement Wayne Lee, Jasmine Lin, and Deborah Pae expressed "The Formosa Quartet is excited to embark on their new musical adventures with Matthew and thanks Cheyen for his invaluable contribution to the ensemble.”

About Matthew Cohen:

Ukrainian-American violist Matthew Cohen is a dynamic and versatile artist whose captivating performances have made him one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. A special prize winner at the prestigious Primrose International Viola Competition, he was also awarded top prizes at the Citta di Cremona International Viola Competition in Italy, Vivo International Music Competition and the Art of Duo International Competition. Particularly interested in advocating for the viola as a unique voice, he is challenging the misconception that the viola has a limited repertoire by bringing attention to lesser-known gems as well as arrangements of other masterworks.

Since his first performance in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium at the age of 15 as a soloist in the New York premiere of Tomas Svoboda’s Sonata No. 2 for orchestra and solo string quartet, he has concertized as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America and Europe in venues such as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Ford Amphitheater and Broad Stage in California, the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Oregon, Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland and the Casa della Musica in Cosenza, Italy. Recent solo engagements include his European debut performing Hummel’s Potpourri with the Gstaad Festival Orchestra and Bartok’s Viola Concerto with the I Virtuosi Italiani orchestra in Cremona, and presenting the world premiere of internationally recognized video game score composer Garry Schyman’s viola concerto “Zingaro” with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony conducted by Dr. Noreen Green. Past appearances include concerti with ensembles such as the North Shore Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Summer Chamber Music, Symphony in C, Ensemble Baroquelyn, Juilliard Orchestra, Colburn Orchestra, Oregon Sinfonietta, and Oregon Symphony/Oregon Ballet Theater. 

A passionate chamber musician, he has performed alongside many distinguished artists including members of the Aeolus, Borromeo, Guarneri, Orion, Parker, Tokyo, and Vermeer string quartets and the Beaux Arts and Tempest piano trios, and has been featured by numerous concert series and chamber music societies including Bargemusic, Camerata Pacifica, the Colburn Chamber Music Society, Heifetz Celebrity Series, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Ringwood Friends of Chamber Music, Olmos Ensemble, Red Barn Chamber Music, and the Wolfeboro Friends of Chamber Music. Summer festival engagements include appearances at ChamberFest Cleveland, Gstaad Menuhin Festival and Academy, Heifetz International Music Institute, the Meadowmount School for Strings, Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, the Perlman Music Program, Philadelphia Young Pianist’s Academy, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and the Sarasota Music Festival.

A graduate of the Juilliard School's Master of Music program, he was the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship; he earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Cleveland Institute of Music and received an Artist Diploma from Colburn Conservatory where he studied with Misha Amory, Heidi Castleman, Paul Coletti, Jeffrey Irvine, and Cynthia Phelps. He has served as a member of the chamber music faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the Heifetz Institute and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Opus 71 Concerts, a multidisciplinary concert series near New York’s Lincoln Center. In addition to his musical activities, he enjoys public speaking and has acted in a number of plays including various works of Shakespeare, Peter Pan, Auntie Mame, and the musical Bugsy Malone. His recording of York Bowen’s Phantasy for viola and piano with acclaimed pianist Vivian Fan is available on the Soundset label.

About the Formosa Quartet:

Winners of the First Prize and Amadeus Prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, the Formosa Quartet (FQ) is “one of the very best quartets of their generation” (David Soyer, cellist; Guarneri Quartet). Hailed as “spellbinding” (The Strad) and “remarkably fine” (Gramophone), the ensemble has given critically acclaimed performances at the Library of Congress, the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Wigmore Hall in London, die Glocke Bremen, and the Kammermusiksaal at the Berliner Philharmonie. 

For two decades and counting, the Formosa Quartet has forged uncharted musical terrain in performances that go “beyond the beautiful and into the territory of unexpectedly thrilling… like shots of pure espresso” (MUSO Magazine). The founding members’ interest in championing Taiwanese music and Indigenous cultures has since expanded to include the exploration of the rich folk traditions and heritages found in America today. Whether in its uncompromisingly exploratory approach to the standard quartet literature; its socioculturally probing American Mirror Project; or its exclusive collection of folk, pop, jazz, and poetry arrangements, Formosa Quartet is committed to an insatiable search for the fresh and new in string quartet expression.

The Formosa Quartet undertakes a variety of residencies at organizations and institutions across North America and Asia. FQ is Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYOC), holds week-long performance and teaching residencies at the University of Houston and Eastern Michigan University, and has enjoyed residencies at Art of Élan; Rice University; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of California, San Diego.

The Formosa Quartet has played a leading role in actively commissioning new works, contributing significantly to the modern string quartet repertory. FQ’s 2019 milestone album From Hungary to Taiwan includes premiere recordings of three Formosa commissions: Lei Liang’s Song Recollections, Dana Wilson’s Hungarian Folk Songs, and Wei-Chieh Lin’s Five Taiwanese Folk Songs. Other works composed for the quartet include pieces by Dana Wilson, Wei-Chieh Lin, Shih-Hui Chen, and Clancy Newman. 

The members of the Formosa Quartet – Jasmine Lin, Wayne Lee, Matthew Cohen, and Deborah Pae – have established themselves as leading solo, chamber, and orchestral musicians. With degrees from the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Colburn Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music; they have performed in major venues throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe, and have been top prizewinners in prestigious competitions such as the Paganini, Primrose, Fischoff, and Naumburg competitions. As chamber musicians, they have appeared regularly at the Marlboro, Kingston, Santa Fe, and Ravinia festivals, as well as at Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Caramoor, and Chamber Music Northwest. The members of the Formosa Quartet currently serve on faculty at Eastern Michigan University, Roosevelt University, and Heifetz International Music Institute. They have previously taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Taos School of Music, and the Juilliard School.

Formed in 2002 when the four Taiwanese-descended founders came together for a concert tour of Taiwan, the Formosa Quartet’s cultural identity has since expanded to include broader American, pan-Asian, and Ukrainian roots. Their name “Formosa” is taken in its most basic sense: Portuguese for “beautiful.”

The Formosa Quartet forms an octet with violins Andrea Guarneri (1662) and Joseph Curtin (2001), a Peter Westerlund viola (2014), and a Vincenzo Postiglione cello (1885).

# # #

David Balakrishnan

When one of your biggest musical heroes since forever, who hadn’t even known you existed, takes the time to chat with you for over an hour; turns out to be the funniest, kindest, most teddy bear -ish human; and solemnly blesses your jazz endeavors…

#heart #tear #ahhh #pinchme
is all you can say.

Click here for full interview

Toooo muuuch

Recently the 4 of us saw each other in person for the first time since the pandemic. To be more precise, it was at 9:30am Pacific on the morning of Aug 1st. There were hugs, smiles, and a tear all around, followed by “everyone looks the same!” Then we sat down to investigate the rhythmic patterns in Derrick Skye’s American Mirror Part II.

It happened thanks to the ingenuity of our friend Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin. When his Taipei Music Academy & Festival 2021 couldn’t carry on in Taipei as scheduled, due to Covid developments there in early summer, he did the impossible: move TMAF 6,432 miles east to San Francisco. The move was made possible in part by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music generous allowing TMAF the use of their facilities. We spent a week working with today’s most talented young musicians, performing with Jimmy’s amazing roster of faculty artists, and playing together as a quartet for the first time after 17 months.

Throughout the SF edition of TMAF — particularly during late-night hangs, but even in unexpected moments like midway through Formosa Quartet’s performance of “Minor Swing” — the 2 words most often, and most loudly, spoken by the faculty were “Toooo much!!” The expression was coined during clarinetist John Bruce Yeh’s early Marlboro days when, playing pool in the middle of the night, he and his buddies could be heard shouting “Toooo much!!” or “Not enough!!” after every shot, to the distress of all who were trying to sleep. Nowadays “Toooo much” has taken on a life of its own, punctuating every conversation, plundering every context, insinuating itself in every shade and intonation. It lives in John and Jimmy’s repartees at TMAF and everywhere. You can’t understand it or capture its bro-ness until you’ve heard them say it.

“Enjoy Seoul Food! Too muuuuch!”
”The kitchen is hot! Too muuuch!!”
”Very advanced microtonal modulations. Tooo… muuuchhh.”
”Naming it ‘The Chaser.’ Tooo muuuch!!!“
”Isn’t that scored for B-flat aubergine? Tooooo muuch!”
”Do you want 2nd or 3rd species counterpoint? Tooo muuuuch!!!”
”But of course you must COOK it first!”
”Too much or not enough?”
”Jusssttt Rrrright!!!!”
”Uuuuusuki tooooo much.”
”Toooo muuuuch!!!!”

And it really was.

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moment of syrup

Syrupy valentines to all our friends, including this grumpy birthday boy. Birthyear boy, more accurately.

How do we love you? Let us count the ways. We love you easily and difficultly, in rehearsals and in pizzerias, with water and with wine, in A Minor and in B-flat Major, with Elizabeth Barrett Browning couplets and with Javascript, in Illinois and in Texas, really and virtually, soberly and insanely.

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We love you for making us more alive.

Season's Greetings

Whether you’re toasting,

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hosting,

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roasting,

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or boasting,

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we wish you fireworks every day, every year, and every decade.

Love,
Stinky Tofu, Little White, Charred Steak Tips, and Miss Flavor

UCLA

To all the wonderful students, faculty, staff, and audiences at the Herb Alpert School of Music where we spent our last quartet tour week of 2019 — thank you! Manuscripts, dog speak, nightmares, and fugal structures were all equally fun to decipher.

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New York + Autumn = ?

Happy autumn, everyone! We’re looking forward to our upcoming concerts in New York and D.C., where we’ll play the Schubert Cello Quintet with our dear friend Peter Wiley.

And for once, it will actually be autumn in New York when we play “Autumn in New York” by Wei-Chieh Lin — finally, after its many guises as winter in Vancouver, spring in Georgia, you name it.

We’re especially excited to rehearse at our favorite rehearsal location, Camp Goldberg — home of Debbie & Mickey Goldberg & their huge no-longer-puppy Alastair. During our last visit to Camp Goldberg, we also rehearsed our cover shot for our album “From Hungary to Taiwan”. If only all rehearsals were this easy…

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For Your Grammy Consideration

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It is our great pleasure to share that our album From Hungary to Taiwan is on the GRAMMY ballot in THREE categories—Best Producer featuring our dear friend and cellist extraordinaire Clancy Newman, Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, and Best Contemporary Composition for Dana Wilson’s Hungarian Folk Songs, Lei Liang's Song Recollections, and Wei-Chieh Jay Lin's Taiwanese Folk Songs!

This was an immensely meaningful recording for us and without your boundless support, our album would not be in consideration.

For those of you who haven't explored our musical voyage on this album, you can stream it on:

Spotify

YouTube

Apple Music

You can also visit our website to learn more about how this record came to be, and above all, enjoy.

Thank you for your time and Grammy voting consideration!

With great affection,
Jasmine Lin, Wayne Lee, Che-Yen Chen, and Deborah Pae

multiple choice

In every city we perform in, our cellist Deborah is known for having an admirer, code-named “Matt”. In which of the following cities does she NOT have a “Matt”?

a) Chicago

b) Houston

c) Taipei

d) Vancouver

Which of these is NOT a dog in the Formosa Quartet family?

a) a Beagle and German Shepherd mix named Baci

b) a Jack Russell Terrier and Dachsund mix named Ashkii

c) a Siberian Husky named Zephyr

d) a Black Lab named Duckwater Shoshone

Which past situation does Cheyen like to remind Wayne of, every chance he gets?

a) When Cheyen accidentally walked into Wayne’s fitting room at Old Navy, Wayne was wearing lobster underwear.

b) While driving to a rehearsal, Cheyen had to pull over so Wayne could pee by the New Jersey Turnpike.

c) Cheyen defended Wayne at Giverny Festival when Wayne got in trouble for writing “tritones suck” on the bathroom wall.

d) Cheyen was Wayne’s chamber music coach at Juilliard.

What distracted Wayne during a Mendelssohn Octet rehearsal?

a) He received a text from Debbie, asking him to play softer.

b) One player’s legs were spread open to a near-180° angle, giving Wayne a stellar view of the crotch area.

c) Jasmine reeked of the garlic she’d eaten for lunch.

d) A bird landed on the windowsill and gobbled up a cricket he had noticed at the start of rehearsal.

Which of these conversations does Formosa Quartet have on nearly every trip?

a)

— I think we should play the Carter cycle.

— Let’s do whatever it takes to become world-famous.

— OK, Carter cycle and boob jobs.

— And go onstage naked.

b)

— Let’s go get Thai massages.

— Is that where they rub their breasts all over you?

— No, that’s a Thai bath.

c)

— Your feet support you, and I support your feet. Therefore I support you.

— If you support my feet, does that mean you support my sole?

— I assumed your sole was in tow.

d)

— Thank you!

— No, thank you!

— How many subsets are we at?

targets

We had shooting lessons in Georgia recently. Can you guess which target is which Formosa’s? And who desisted?

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Happy Lunar New Year 2019!

Happy (belated) Lunar New Year, friends! We know our greetings are a little late — we’ve been on an action packed tour in Georgia (and away from the Polar Vortex that’s been sweeping through the Midwest!) — but we wanted to share a very special musical gift. Our new album “From Hungary to Taiwan” on Bridge Records is Classical KUSC’s DOWNLOAD of the week! To celebrate the Lunar New Year this week, you can download Wei-Chieh Lin’s “Rain Night Flower” from “Four Taiwanese Folk Songs”.

We hope you all enjoy this gift from us to you! Thank you, KUSC Radio, and Happy Lunar New Year to our friends and fans all over the globe! 🎉🎁

Jasmine, Wayne, Che-Yen, & Deborah