Program
Dover Quartet
Joel Link, violin
Bryan Lee, violin
Camden Shaw, cello
Hezekiah Leung, viola
Quartet in C major, Hob.III:77, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”)
Joseph Haydn
Allegro
Poco adagio: Cantabile
Menuetto
Finale: Presto
Quartet for Strings (In One Movement), Op. 89
Amy Beach
Quartet No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 44, No. 3
Felix Mendelssohn
Allegro vivace
Scherzo. Assai leggiero vivace
Adagio non troppo
Molto allegro con fuoco
The Dover Quartet appears by arrangement with the Curtis Institute of Music, where it serves as the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence.
Dover Quartet
Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the GRAMMY® nominated Dover Quartet has followed a “practically meteoric” (Strings) trajectory to become one of the most in-demand chamber ensembles in the world. In addition to its faculty role as the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Dover Quartet holds residencies with the Kennedy Center, Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, Artosphere, and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. The group’s awards include a stunning sweep of all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand and first prizes at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Its prestigious honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award.
The Dover Quartet’s active 2021–22 season includes world premiere performances of Marc Neikrug’s Piano Quintet No. 2 at the Kennedy Center with Haochen Zhang, Chris Rogerson’s Dream Sequence for Santa Fe Pro Musica with Anne-Marie McDermott, and Steven Mackey’s theatrical musical work Memoir at Artosphere with arx duo and narrator Natalie Christa. Other artist collaborations include performances with the Escher String Quartet, Bridget Kibbey, the Pavel Haas Quartet, and Davóne Tines. The quartet has also recently collaborated with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnaton, Ray Chen, Edgar Meyer, Anthony McGill, the late Peter Serkin, and Roomful of Teeth.
During the 2020–21 season, the Dover Quartet presented more than 25 virtual concerts, recorded and produced at the Curtis Institute of Music. The virtual concerts were presented to audiences across the globe, including the quartet’s first-ever tour to Latin America, which was conducted virtually. Beyond performances, the charming documentary film Strings Attached: On the Road with the Dover Quartet, has delighted audiences since its release in summer 2020.
Cedille Records released the second of three volumes of the quartet’s recording of the Beethoven Complete String Quartets in October 2021. Strad described the highly acclaimed recordings as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate.” Their recording of Encores was also released in 2021 on the Brooklyn Classical label. The quartet’s GRAMMY® nominated recording of The Schumann Quartets was released by Azica Records in 2019. Cedille Records released the Dover Quartet’s Voices of Defiance: 1943, 1944, 1945 in October 2017; and an all-Mozart debut recording in the 2016–17 season, featuring the late Michael Tree, violist of the Guarneri Quartet. Voices of Defiance, which explores works written during World War II by Viktor Ullman, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Simon Laks, was lauded upon its release as “undoubtedly one of the most compelling discs released this year” (Wall Street Journal).