IT'S said that a family that plays together, stays together - however, it's probably not what the parents of Phillip, David, Janet and Timothy had in mind when they enrolled them in music lessons as children.

The string quartet - all of whom are siblings - arrive on the island next week to perform at the City Hall as part of the Bermuda Festival.

"In some ways we're a regular string quartet and in some ways we're very unusual," said Phillip Ying. "Our parents thought that to have us take instrument lessons was just as important as sports and academics, but they never thought that any of us would become professional musicians much less play together."

Even the siblings - now all in their 30s - never considered that they might one day enter the same profession, and work jointly with the others, Mr. Ying said. It wasn't until they were pursuing advanced studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, that they considered the idea might have real merit.

"It was important that each of us individually decided to pursue music professionally and so we each decided to do so on our own, although we always realised we had the proper instruments for a string quartet. It wasn't until we were in the conservatory that we had the opportunity to pursue it."

The siblings received great encouragement from instructors at the conservatory, the Cleveland Quartet, Mr. Ying said, and in 1992 they officially formed their own.

"We were looking for jobs after graduation and something incredibly fortuitous happened. The National Endowment for the Arts - a programme that sends young chamber musicians to perform in rural areas across the United States - was created. They sent us off packing to a town in Iowa with 2,000 people."

Having come from a conservatory where everyone lived and breathed classical musical, the event was somewhat of an experience, Mr. Ying added.

"We didn't know what they would think. We didn't know what people who (weren't so exposed) to classical music would think of us. And so we were really challenged in that situation to explain to them why we felt classical music was worth preserving and why we had (formed) a string quartet. Not only did we have to perform well, but we had to be articulate about our experience."

Fortunately, he said, fortune shone on them. Not only was the Ying Quartet well received by the townsfolk, but the group was besieged by national media attention also.

"Because the programme was new and the National Endowment of the Arts wanted to give it publicity, the New York Times did an article on us and CBS came out to the little town of 2,000 people to do a story on us as well. The publicity, of course, inadvertently helped us. It was incredible the exposure we got."

Since then, Mr. Ying added, he and his siblings have taken over from their mentors, The Cleveland Quartet, as the resident quartet at their alma mater.

"The opportunities we've had have been amazing. It'll be our first time in Bermuda and we're really looking forward to it."

The Ying Quartet will present two innovative and exciting performances at City Hall - Wednesday, January 22 and Thursday, January 23, both at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through the Festival Box Office at the Chamber of Commerce Building, near the Ferry Terminal on Front Street. Open 10 a.m. through 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday until March 1st. For telephone booking with credit card, call 296-5774 or order on-line at www.bermudafestival.com. For inquiries only, 292-8572.