"Reimagining the American Art Form": Dover Quartet on the Cover of 'Strings' Magazine

Cover of Sept/Oct 2025 issue of Strings

The Dover Quartet is on the cover on the September/October 2025 issue of Strings magazine. Formed at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in 2008, the foursome—today consisting of Joel Link, violin; Bryan Lee, violin; Julianne Lee, viola; and Camden Shaw, cello—have become "one of the most acclaimed ensembles of its generation," writes Tom May. Their most recent album, Woodland Songs, includes the world premiere recordings of the title piece, which the quartet commissioned from the renowned Chickasaw-American composer Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha' Tate, and of Tate's orchestration of Pura Fé's Rattle Songs.

From the start, the ensemble members have maintained a vital connection to their alma mater as quartet-in-residence, carrying forward a lineage once held by the legendary Guarneri Quartet. This summer’s release of Woodland Songs on the Curtis Studio label—an in-house initiative showcasing original recordings by Curtis-affiliated artists—caps the conservatory’s 100th anniversary season, underscoring how deeply intertwined the Dover Quartet remains with the institution that launched its career. The album combines new commissions with a fresh account of Dvořák’s Op. 96 “American” Quartet.

“There’s a sense of rhythmic groove in both Jerod’s Woodland Songs and in the Ulali Rattle Songs that can be found all over the place in the ‘American’ Quartet,” observes Shaw. “Mere seconds into the ‘American,’ there is a transition motive in D minor with a pulsing rhythm in the second violin that is almost certainly a rattle song or similar Native tune. Dvořák’s profound slow movement is also almost certainly from a traditional melody—perhaps slowed down and put in a new meter to explore it differently.”

Read the full piece here.

Find out more about the Dover Quartet, including all upcoming performances, at doverquartet.com.