Dover Quartet

Biography Considered one of the most remarkably talented string quartets ever to emerge at such a young age, the Dover Quartet has been named the first Quartet-in-Residence at the venerated Curtis Institute of Music, and the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-In-Residence at the Caramoor Festival for the 2013-14 season. The Grand Prize-winner of the 2010 Fischoff Competition, the Dover formed at Curtis in 2008, when its members were just 19 years old. The Quartet draws from the musical lineage of both the Vermeer and Guarneri Quartets, but brings a youthful enthusiasm and musical conviction to the repertoire that is truly its own. The Strad recently raved that the Quartet is “already pulling away from their peers with their exceptional interpretative maturity, tonal refinement and taut ensemble.” The Dover Quartet won prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, and has taken part in festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest, Artosphere, La Jolla SummerFest, and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. Recent performances include those for such influential series as the Washington Performing Arts Society, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Peoples’ Symphony, Schneider Concerts, Kneisel Hall, and the Houston Friends of Chamber Music. The Quartet continued their close collaboration with violist Roberto Díaz on an extensive European tour in spring 2013, which included performances throughout Germany, Austria, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The summer of 2013 featured performances at

the Bard Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Highlights of the 2013-14 season include a number of performances at the Curtis Institute of Music and Caramoor Festival, as well as a debut at the Heidelberg Festival in Germany. Members of the Quartet have appeared as soloists with some of the world's finest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic. The group’s recording of the Mendelssohn and Debussy quartets received high praise: "...the maturity in these interpretations is phenomenal and disproportionate to the age [of the group]." The ensemble has studied with such renowned chamber musicians as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Arnold Steinhardt, Joseph Silverstein, and Peter Wiley, and was the Quartet-in-Residence at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music until May 2013. In addition, the Quartet is an active member of Music for Food, an initiative by musicians to help fight hunger in their home communities. 6/13 – Please do not edit without permission

Program Choices 2014-15 Repertoire Program I Glazunov: Five Novelettes for String Quartet, Op. 15 Mozart: Quartet in D Major, K. 499 ****** Schubert: Quartet in A minor, D. 804, “Rosamunde” OR Bartok: Quartet No. 1 Program II Beethoven: Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5 Shostakovich: Quartet No. 7 ****** Dvorak: Quartet in C Major, Op. 61 Program III Haydn: Quartet in G Major, Op. 76, No. 1 Viktor Ullman: Quartet No. 3 ***** Kaija Saariaho: Terra Memoria Beethoven: Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127

Select Press "The group played with a refinement belying its years." — Rutland Herald, Jim Lowe

"Destined for the company of some of the finest string quartets ever assembled."

— The Birmingham News, Michael Huebner

"The Dover Quartet [...] was sublime." — The Strad, Tim Homfray

FEATURES 2011 // Musical America Worldwide - Young Artists: Thrills of Discovery CONCERT REVIEWS March 2013 // The Wall Street Journal February 2012 // Rutland Herald August 2010 // The Birmingham News

2011 Young Artists: Thrills of Discovery By Harris Goldsmith

Our indefatigable concertgoer has heard hundreds of budding musicians since his last MA report and tells us now of several more thrilling young artists whose legends have already commenced.

Twice before, in 2004 and 2008, I’ve written in Musical America’s Directory about promising young artists I’ve had the pleasure to hear perform. It’s been particularly gratifying to watch many of these young artists become leaders of their generation. Join me in watching the careers of these thrilling artists whose legends have commenced. We’ll be hearing a lot from them in the future!

Dover Quartet [formerly the Old City String Quartet]   The “old city” is Philadelphia. Violinists Bryan Lee and Joel Link, violist Milena Pajoro-van de Stadt, and cellist Camden Shaw, all students at the Curtis Institute, formed their ensemble in 2008. They were awarded second prize at the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Competition, and Gold Medalist and Grand Prize Winner at the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. And they have already recorded quartets by Mendelssohn and Debussy on a CD just released last spring by the audiophile label, Unipheye Music. The Quartet’s debut at Rockefeller University last October began with a poised, beautifully balanced account of Ravel’s Quartet in F—astonishing coming from such youthful musicians, and even more so when one realized that this miraculous performance was the group’s first! Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, with Moran Katz (serendipitously featured in this same article devoted to young artists) likewise continued the same perfection and elegance. All five protagonists shone as magnificent presences, and Katz’s subtle, unobtrusive embellishments were a joy.

First Sounds of Spring By Barrymore Laurence Scherer, March 27, 2013 […] That night, I attended "Play & Play: An Evening of Movement and Music" by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts, a film palace elegantly decorated with neoclassical designs in the manner of Robert Adam and Josiah Wedgwood. On the first half was "Story," set to Franz Schubert's D-Minor String Quartet ("Death and the Maiden"); on the second was "D-Man in the Waters," set to Felix Mendelssohn's E-Flat String Octet, op.20. Even on a rhythmic level, the choreography of both dances appeared to have little relationship to the romantic, emotional music. But whether you feel that Bill T. Jones ranks among America's most articulate exponents of modern dance, or that he simply talks a good game, his company—strong and attractive—danced with its own kind of panache. Musically the Dover Quartet, formed at the Curtis Institute in 2008, distinguished itself by playing Schubert with a level of nuance unexpected of musicians so young. And when the quartet was joined for the Mendelssohn by four equally youthful members of Ensemble39—two still studying at the Curtis—these eight musicians bespoke the level of artistry being fostered in that venerable Philadelphia conservatory. […]  

Music Review: Young string quartet impresses By Jim Lowe, February 16, 2012

The future of string quartet playing was on display at the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival's annual "A Winter Encore Concert" on Saturday at the Elley-Long Music Center - and it was much more than promising. The Dover Quartet, made up of some very talented 23-year-olds, was the featured ensemble, performing alone and with still-young artists, clarinetist Romie de Guise Langlois and violinist Soovin Kim, the festival's artistic director. Langlois, a Montreal native and veteran of Vermont's Marlboro Music Festival, led the ensemble in the major work of the program, Brahms' Clarinet Quintet, Opus 115. Langlois played with an unusually sensitive expressiveness, varying her pliable tone to move the phrase. Although the performance was a bit too driven to enjoy Brahms' classicism, she delivered the work's lyricism and power effectively and beautifully. The quartet - violinists Joel Link and Bryan Lee, violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt and cellist Camden Shaw - sounded great. Although Link had moments of flawed intonation, and in some of the more rhythmic passages the quartet became a bit overwrought, they delivered this masterpiece convincingly. And, most importantly, supported Langlois' excellent musicianship. The Dover Quartet was founded in 2008 while all of its members were students at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, and has since won some important prizes, including the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Its connection to this festival seems to be that Lee, the second violinist, was a student of Kim's. Unusual for a young ensemble, the Dover plays with warmth and lyricism and delivers passion when called for - rather than all of the time, which seems in vogue. In Schumann's A Major String Quartet, Opus 115, the group played with a refinement belying its years. In the slow movement, Adagio, intensity sometimes overpowered the lyricism, but it was largely a compelling performance. The warm expressiveness proved quite moving. The program (which was also performed in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Friday) opened with Kim's own arrangement of J.S. Bach's Partita No. 1 in b minor, BWV 1002, originally for solo violin, for violin and string quartet. It proved quite enjoyable when the solo part was repeated by an arrangement of same by the quartet, but when the two joined together, it subtracted from the power of the original. Although Kim's arrangement was tasteful and sensitive, it would be even greater to hear him play the original - sans accompaniment. He's an insightful and compelling Bach player.

Dover Quartet shows passion, maturity beyond their years By Michael Huebner, August 19, 2010 Those who braved the muggy air and rush hour traffic on Thursday to hear the Dover Quartet's 6 p.m. concert at Altamont School were rewarded with music making that can only be described as astonishing. For these four musicians to have found each other while students at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music is remarkable enough. For them to be performing at such a high level while still in their early 20s, is confounding. Their finely honed sense of ensemble, first revealed in Haydn's Quartet in D major, Op. 76, No. 5, has been molded by robust support in the lower strings combined with even-tempered lyricism in the violins. Together with careful attention to balance and rhythmic precision, the result is a sound that is full and vibrant, yet transparent and pliable. The opening movement was light and graceful. They breezed effortlessly through the Menuetto's offset duple-triple rhythms. The finale was appropriately furious, yet crisp and taut. Bartok's Quartet No. 2 presented more of a technical challenge, but the gritty score was met with passion and breadth in the opening movement, wit and humor in the nearly drunken glissandos and subtle scurrying in the Allegro molto capriccioso, and slowly unfolding intrigue in the Lento. Bryan Lee and Joel Link reversed first and second violin positions in Debussy's String Quartet in G minor, a further indication of this group's flexibility and parity. The largely pizzicato second movement was carefully calculated and meticulously executed, the Andantino muted and ethereal. So where do these young musicians go from here? Unless they opt for solo careers (each is capable), they are destined for the company of some of the finest string quartets ever assembled. But the enthusiastic response at Cabaniss Fine Arts Center could not prompt an encore, suggesting that repertoire building may be in their immediate future.

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