Dover Quartet — String Quartet
Joel Link, Violin
Bryan Lee, Violin
Julianne Lee, Viola
Camden Shaw, Cello
Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine and hailed as “the next Guarneri Quartet” by the Chicago Tribune, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet is recognized as one of the world’s leading chamber ensembles. The group’s awards include a 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. Their honors further include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award. The Dover Quartet’s members serve on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.
The 2025–26 season features collaborations with distinguished artists such as Marc-André Hamelin and Edgar Meyer, alongside performances in major venues including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Konzerthaus Berlin. Their most recent commission is Abokkoli’ Taloowa’ (Woodland Songs) by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, featured on their 2025 album Woodland Songs. The album also includes Tate’s new orchestration of Rattle Songs by Indigenous singer Pura Fé and concludes with Dvořák’s beloved “American” Quartet.
The ensemble has appeared with a wide range of collaborators, including Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Ray Chen, Anthony McGill, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and Davóne Tines. They have premiered works by Mason Bates, Steven Mackey, Marc Neikrug, and Chris Rogerson.
Their discography includes the acclaimed three-volume set Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Cedille Records), praised by The Strad as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate.” Other highlights include Encores (Brooklyn Classical), The Schumann Quartets (Azica Records, GRAMMY-nominated), Voices of Defiance: 1943, 1944, 1945 (Cedille Records), their debut all-Mozart recording (Cedille Records) with violist Michael Tree, and Steven Mackey’s Memoir (Bridge Records).
Formed at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008, the Dover Quartet carries forward the lineage of the Guarneri, Cleveland, and Vermeer Quartets. The ensemble’s members studied at Curtis, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, New England Conservatory, and the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. They were mentored by artists including Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, Kenneth Goldsmith, Joseph Silverstein, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, and Peter Wiley. Their name honors Dover Beach by Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.