On Heels of Best-selling Cedille Album, Voices of Defiance 1943 1944 1945, Dover Quartet Plays NYC Peoples’ Symphony Concert, Makes Debuts at Library of Congress & Carnegie Hall Main Stage
Following the October release of the best-selling album Voices of Defiance 1943 1944 1945 – which broke the top 10 on Billboard’s traditional classical chart – the Cleveland Quartet Award and Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning Dover Quartet stops in New York City on November 18 for a Peoples’ Symphony concert, featuring World War II-era music from the album and Romantic quartets by Mendelssohn and Schumann. Other fall/winter highlights include a debut at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in December, and the group’s mainstage Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam Concertgebouw debuts in January.
Voices of Defiance 1943 1944 1945, released on the Cedille label, comprises string quartets by three composers written during the last three years of World War II: Shostakovich’s Second Quartet, and the Third Quartets of Szymon Laks and Viktor Ullmann, respectively. Both Laks and Ullmann were imprisoned in concentration camps, and while Laks was one of the few to survive the Holocaust, Ullmann was among the millions who perished. The album has already been met with a host of critical accolades, including a laudatory review in the Wall Street Journal that judged it to be “undoubtedly one of the most compelling discs released this year.” Music journalist Remy Franck, founder of Luxembourg’s Pizzicato, declared “I can’t remember any other quartet playing this music the way the ‘Dovers’ do.” A critical favorite since sweeping the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2013, the group has been praised by the Washington Post for its “impeccable refinement,” and the Buffalo News found a performance of Beethoven in the University of Buffalo’s famous “Slee” cycle concerts last spring to have “illuminated and inspired at the same time,” resulting in a “perfect sonic tapestry.”
The Peoples’ Symphony Concerts series – hailed by the New York Times as “Top Music for Bottom Dollar” – has, since being founded by conductor Franz Arens in 1900, presented the world’s foremost concert artists and ensembles at the lowest admission prices of any major series in the country. Performing at the historic Washington Irving High School in Manhattan, the Dovers will play the Laks and Ullmann quartets from Voices of Defiance, as well as Mendelssohn’s Four Pieces for String Quartet and Schumann’s String Quartet in F. Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 586-4680, or online at www.pscny.org.
The Ullmann quartet will also be on the program when the Dovers make their debut with a pair of concerts at the Library of Congress in December, in a performance that also includes quartets by Schoenberg and his contemporary and fellow émigré to the United States Alexander Zemlinsky. In January, following an auspicious debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall last season, the quartet makes its first appearance in the venue’s Stern Auditorium, joining violinist Janine Jansen and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet for Chausson’s haunting Concerto in D for violin, piano, and string quartet. Finally, the group makes its debut at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with a program of Haydn, Zemlinsky, and Mozart. The Dover Quartet’s all-Mozart recording debut, Tribute, released just over a year ago, scored five-star reviews from Audiophile Audition and Fanfare’s Jerry Dubins, who heralded it as “music-making not of the highest order but of the next order.”
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Dover Quartet: 2017-18 engagements
Nov 12
St. Paul, MN
Schubert Club – Music in the Park
Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ
Danielpour: Four Miniatures for String Quartet
Bartok: Quartet No. 1
Rogerson: Thirty Thousand Days
Alan Shulman: Rendezvous
Duke Ellington: Arrangements for clarinet and string quartet by David Shifrin
(With David Shifrin, clarinet)
Nov 14-16: Residency
Evanston, IL
Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music
Nov 18
New York, NY
Peoples’ Symphony Concerts
Mendelssohn: Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81
Szymon Laks: String Quartet No. 3
Viktor Ullmann: String Quartet No. 3
Schumann: String Quartet in F, Op. 41, No. 2
Nov 19
Rye, NY
Westchester Chamber Music Society
Szymon Laks: String Quartet No. 3
Viktor Ullman: Quartet No. 3
Schumann: Quartet in F major, Op. 41, No. 2
Dec 12
Buffalo, NY
Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Kleinhans Music Hall
Richard Danielpour: Four Miniatures for String Quartet
Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11
Bartók: String Quartet No. 1
Dec 18 & 19
Washington, DC
Library of Congress
Victor Ullmann: String Quartet No. 3
Schoenberg: String Quartet in D
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2
Jan 14
Nyon, Switzerland
Grande Salle de la Colombière
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D
Jan 15
Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva Conservatory
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15
Jan 16
Cologne, Germany
Kölner Philharmonie
Mozart: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Schoenberg: String Quartet in D
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15
Jan 17
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Concertgebouw (debut)
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Mozart: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15
Jan 21
New York, NY
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium (debut)
Chausson: Concerto in D for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21 (with Janine Jansen, violin; Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano)
Jan 24–26: Residency
Evanston, IL
Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music:
Jan 26: Winter Chamber Music Festival, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Mozart: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2
Schoenberg: String Quartet in D
Jan 27
Hamilton, ON, Canada
Chamber Music Hamilton, Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Pavilion
Viktor Ullman: Quartet No. 3
Schumann: Quartet in F major, Op. 41, No. 2
Zemlinksy: Quartet No. 2
Feb 1
Beaver Creek, CO
Vilar Performing Arts Center
Mozart: Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Feb 3
Beverly Hills, MI
Chamber Music Society of Detroit
Mozart: Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Duke Ellington: Arrangements for clarinet and string quartet by David Schiff (with David Shifrin, clarinet)
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 (with David Shifrin, clarinet)
Feb 9
Ames, IA
Ames Town & Gown
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: String Quartet No. 2 in D
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
Feb 11
Wooster, OH
Wooster Chamber Music Series
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor Op. 80
Feb 13
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Chamber Music Society
Mozart: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Schoenberg: String Quartet in D
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2
Feb 21–23: Residency
Evanston, IL
Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music
Feb 24
Saratoga Springs, NY
Skidmore College
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Bartok: Quartet No. 1
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, op. 80
Feb 25
Utica, NY
Chamber Music Society of Utica
Mozart: Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Schoenberg: Quartet in D major
Zemlinsky: Quartet No. 2
March 1
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Chamber Music Society
Winter Festival – Desert Botanical Garden
Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 10
Grieg: Holberg Suite
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings
With Zora Quartet: Ida Kavafian, violin; Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola; Peter Wiley, cello; Peter Lloyd, double bass
March 2
Paradise Valley, AZ
Phoenix Chamber Music Society
Winter Festival – Camelback Bible Church
Barber: “Dover Beach”
Barber: Quartet No. 1
Dvorak: Sextet
With Dominic Armstrong, tenor; David Shifrin, clarinet; Ida Kavafian, violin; Peter Wiley, cello
March 3
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Chamber Music Society
Winter Festival
New Work by Nokuthula Ngwenyama
March 4
Tucson, AZ
Arizona Friends of Chamber Music
Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2
March 15
Washington, DC
KC Jukebox series
Derek Bermel: Harmonica (first movement)
Derek Bermel: A Short History of the Universe (third movement; with Derek Bermel, clarinet)
Missy Mazzoli: Set That on Fire (Joel Link, violin solo)
Ted Hearne: Snowball (Bryan Lee, violin solo)
March 18
Fernandina, FL
Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival
Mozart: Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D Major
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
March 20
Miami FL
Friends of Chamber Music Miami with Alexander Fiterstein
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
March 25
Oklahoma City, OK
Chamber Music in Oklahoma
Mozart: String Quartet in D minor, K. 421
Schoenberg: String Quartet in D
Zemlinsky: String Quartet No. 2
April 1
Rohnert Park, CA
Sonoma State University, Green Music Center
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 2, No. 5
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
April 6
Kansas City, MO
Friends of Chamber Music
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Schoenberg: String Quartet in D
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
April 7
Fernandina Beach, FL
Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival
Couperin: Suite for Quartet and Cello
Schoenberg: Quartet in D major
Zemlinksy: Quartet No. 2
April 9–11: Residency
Evanston, IL
Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music
April 10: Galvin Hall recital
April 29 & 30
Calgary, AB, Canada
Calgary Pro Musica
Haydn: String Quartet in G, Op. 76, No. 1
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F, Op. 73
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat, Op. 20 (with Pacifica Quartet)
May 1
Kelowna, BC, Canada
Chamber Music Kelowna, Mary Irwin Theatre
With Pacifica Quartet
Schoenberg: Quartet in D major (Dover)
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 3 in F major, op. 73 (PQ)
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat major, op. 20
May 14
Norfolk, VA
Robin Hixon Theater, Clay & Jay Barr Education Center
Haydn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Borodin: Quartet No. 2 in D major
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
May 15
Portsmouth, VA
St. John’s Episcopal Church
May 19 & 20
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society
Schubert: String Quintet in C (with Carter Brey, cello)
May 21–24: Residency
Evanston, IL
Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music
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