We’re very excited to share the news that violinist Joel Link of the Dover Quartet has recently been named Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra—full story here. Much to the relief of the entire chamber music world, Link and the rest of the Dover Quartet—a group hailed by BBC Music Magazine as one of the greatest string quartets of the past century— plan to continue performing as an ensemble, and we look forward to having them with us at the Festival this season.

Link will appear at theSanta Fe Chamber Music Festival this summer in three concerts: On August 14, he performs with the Dover Quartet; on August 16, he takes center stage in Bach’s beloved Violin Concerto in A Minor; and on August 17, he joins pianist Kirill Gerstein, violist Toby Appel, and Dover cellist Camden Shaw for Brahms’s expansive Piano Quartet in A Major.

Link will commence his role as the Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom-Lee Concertmaster Chair on July 3. A founding member of the Dover Quartet, Link has played a central role in the ensemble’s meteoric rise since its formation at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008. The quartet gained international recognition after sweeping top prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition and now serves as the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at Curtis Institute of Music and as Quartet-in-Residence at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. In his role as an educator at Curtis Institute and Northwestern University, Link mentors young musicians, helping them bridge the gap between conservatory training and professional ensemble life.

Link’s extraordinary artistry is well known to Festival audiences, and we eagerly await his return this summer for his 11th season with the Festival.