The Pacific Symphony Youth Quartet (PSYQ) was founded in 2014 when Soul Center OC contacted Pacific Symphony and requested the services of a string quartet to play as a part of its Peace OC event. After this simple “debut,” PSYE received increasing numbers of requests for youth quartet performances. As they began performing more regularly, the quartet significantly expanded its repertoire and played together at numerous events over the past several years, including donor events at venues including the St. Regis Hotel and the Westin Hotel, chamber music concerts at the Newport Beach Public Library, events for the Jewish Bureau of Education, ""Physicians of Excellence” at the Richard Nixon Library, organized by the OC Register, a State of the City address in Irvine City Hall, benefit concerts in Winifred Smith Hall, and more. The quartet has also played for a number of cultural events at locations including the South Coast Plaza, Irvine Chinese School, and the prestigious Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
This year's Pacific Symphony Youth Quartet, self-named A New Satiesfaction Quartet (after the arrangement by Made in Berlin) is comprised of Sarah Liu, violin; Jayden Yeung, violin; Chris Lee, viola; and Tiana Lin, cello. Coached by Dr. Jacob Sustaita, this quartet started rehearsing and performing together in the fall of 2021. Most recently, in collaboration with Violins for Hope, the students were given the opportunity to perform on historical instruments which survived the Holocaust and were restored in Israel.
Individually, the students have won numerous competitions, including the Open and Young Artist categories in the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, the VOCE (Vocalists, Orchestral instrumentalists, Chamber music, and Ensembles) competition, the Satori Strings Contest (Grand Prize Winner), Orange County Instrumentalist of the Year in the Strings & Piano category, the Pelican International Music Competition, the Hong Kong Open Piano Competition, the American Protégé Romantic Music Competition, the American Protégé Concerto Competition (Judges' Distinction Award), the Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition, and the Great Composers International Music Competition. The musicians have also had the opportunity to perform alongside celebrated artists and musicians, including the professional Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Grammy-nominated AZYet, Surface, and violinist Chloe Chua, among others.
