Frank Ge-Fang Yang

From 1992 to 2003, Frank Ge-Fang Yang was the first violinist of the Alexander String quartet, violin professor at San Francisco State University and one of the directors of the Morrison Chamber Music Center in San Francisco.

For more than a decade, he performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Dublin, Toronto, New York city, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Orlando, Cincinnati, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc. He has performed complete quartet works of Beethoven, Mozart, Bartok, Brahms, Shostakovich, Janacek and other master pieces.

He had appeared in radio and television programs in Europe and United States, featured in such international publications as Strad, Strings, Grammophon, BBC Classics, and Chamber Music America. As both performer and producer, he made the Beethoven complete string quartet recording for Arte Nova label of BMG, Germany, which received the Boston Global best classic album of the year after the release in 1998. He also recorded for Foghorn, CRI, and Inova of USA.

During his tenure in the quartet, he was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree twice, by Allegheny College of Pennsylvania in 1995, and by St. Lawrence University of New York in 1998 for his outstanding achievements in music performance and education.

In 2010, he joined the faculty at Renmin University of China as professor of violin and chamber music, and was the music department chair from 2012-2014.

In 2017, he started his teaching post in the world class Central Conservatory of Music of China, and in 2021 became the head of the Chamber Music division. His students won various awards such as Ysaye competition in Brussel and entered with good standing into Wigmore Hall, ARD, Salzburg, Bartok competition. Yang obtained his BA degree from Wuhan Conservatory in China and his graduate study in the College-Conservatory of Music in University of Cincinnati, USA.

His mentors included Kurt Sassmannshaus, Dorothy Delay of US, Gao Yi, Zou Ting-Heng, Lin Yao-Ji of China, The Tokyo String Quartet, and La Salle String Quartet of US.

He plays on a violin made by Joseph Guarneri filius Andrea, circa 1707.

Academic Area

• School of the Arts

Courses Taught

• Applied Violin