New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The phenomenal
Dover Quartet catapulted to international stardom following a stunning sweep of the 2013 Banff Competition, at which they won every prize. Named the Cleveland Quartet Award-winner, and honored with the coveted Avery
Fisher Career Grant, the
Dover has become one of the most in-demand ensembles in the world. The Quartet's rise from up-and-coming young ensemble to occupying a spot at the top of their field has been "practically meteoric" (Strings). With its burnished warmth, incisive rhythms, and natural phrasing, the Quartet's distinctive sound has helped confirm its status as "the young American string quartet of the moment" (New Yorker). The Quartet serves as the quartet-in-residence for the Bienen School of
Music at Northwestern University, Chamber
Music Northwest, Artosphere, the Amelia Island Chamber
Music Festival, and Peoples' Symphony in New York, and was recently named the first ever quartet-in-residence for the Kennedy Center.
In 2018-19 the
Dover Quartet performs more than a hundred concerts around North America, including performances at the Kennedy Center, San Francisco Performances, the Philadelphia Chamber
Music Society, Spivey Hall, Boston's Celebrity Series, the Chamber
Music Society of Detroit, and Carnegie Hall. In addition, the Dover's season features tours of Hong Kong, Europe, and Australia, collaborations with
Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan,
Peter Serkin, Anthony McGill, and Roomful of Teeth, and premieres of new works by Caroline Shaw and Matan Porat. The Quartet was thrilled to be invited by the maverick filmmaker and cultural icon
David Lynch to be featured at his Los Angeles Festival of Disruption.
About the Composer, Eric Sessler…
Eric Sessler's distinctive compositions are an accessible and highly engaging blend of classical music infused with elements drawn from popular music. He has received awards from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, ASCAP, the Theodore Presser Foundation, and grants from American Composers Forum and the Philadelphia
Music Project. He has been commissioned by a wide range of musicians, including the
Dover Quartet; the Cincinnati and Philadelphia Chamber Orchestras; flutist Jeffrey Khaner; and guitarist Jason Vieaux. Among recordings of his music, Sessler's Organ Concerto was featured on Opus 76-a showcase of the Fred J.
Cooper Memorial Organ in Verizon Hall (The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia), with renowned organist Alan Morrison as soloist.
Born in Dover, New Jersey, Dr. Sessler is based outside of Philadelphia and he is a member of the faculties of the Curtis
Institute of
Music and The Juilliard School. A 1993 Curtis
Institute graduate in composition, Sessler later received his doctorate from The Juilliard School.
A moment captured in time… ideally, this is one of the best things that a recording can offer. In this case, a musical portrait of a young ensemble caught up in an unexpected moment of magic:two microphones, four movements (one take each), thirty-one minutes of music (without edits) - a stunning glimpse into the brilliant musicianship of the
Dover Quartet. The backstory of The Curtis Sessions took place in 2013, when the ensemble decided to make an informal recording of Dreams from life awake at the Curtis Institute. Scheduled one night after their Kimmel Center debut concert, the Dovers were relaxed and focused. The quartet navigated intricate ensemble writing with ease, and with each subsequent movement the group's energy gathered and sharpened. Complete commitment to each other and the music, transformed the informal recording into a beautiful portrait of young musicians under the powerful influence of musical synchronicity. Ultimately, The Curtis Sessions places the listener literally right in front of a brilliant young string quartet on a very special evening.
Dreams from life awake was composed in 2012-2013 and was commissioned by the
Dover Quartet to whom it is dedicated. The premiere performance took place on October 5th, 2013 for the Candlelight Concert Society at the Horowitz Performing Arts Center in Columbia, MD. The quartet begins with a dramatic introduction, which foreshadows music that will be heard in the later movements. All of this ends in a flurry of pizzicato activity that is intentionally cut-off creating a dramatic suspension.
The second movement is a continuously evolving meditation on lyricism. At the end, the melodies are layered in beautiful counterpoint and the music gradually slows to a luminous conclusion.
The third movement is full of contrasts of musical textures and speeds. At the start, there are broad expansive chords that shift like a kaleidoscope on themselves. Later on in the movement they "dissolve" as player by player notes change creating new combinations of chords. Alternating with these block sounds are moods that range from fast with rhythmical accents all the way to tranquil quietude. At the end, the quartet reaches a climax by climbing to a high E major chord and then descending through a series of breathtaking "dissolves" which arrives on a final chord with the second violinist playing the bass note on the low open G string.
The fourth movement has a type of perpetual motion fever with constant interruptions. This driving and energetic finale is built with an ever-present four-note figure, which is inspired by guitar like hammer-ons and pull-offs. As the music progresses, long note melodic lines get transferred to every instrument in the quartet while the others accelerate the energy with tremendous dynamic swells and crescendos. At the end, the music goes even faster and the wild ride is driven home at a frenetically joyous pace.
"...the
Dover Quartet players have it in them to become the next Guarneri String Quartet - they're that good." - The
Chicago Tribune
"Excellent and fast-rising." - The New York Times
"A sound so distinctive as to be identified within mere minutes." - Philadelphia Inquirer
"The Power of the
Dover Quartet to communicate a work with awesome sophistication borders on the spiritual." - Calgary Herald
"These young musicians play with remarkable attentiveness and an astonishingly even tone, as if they were four limbs of one instrument." - Montreal Gazette
"A quartet to reckon with…for me, this was string quartet nirvana." -
Santa Fe New Mexican
PLAYERS AND INSTRUMENTS:
Joel Link - Violin
Bryan Lee - Violin
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt - Viola
Camden Shaw - Cello
TRACKS AND TIMES:
1. Dreams from life awake: I. reverberation-exploration-flow 6:33
2. Dreams from life awake: II. tenderness-love-warmth 8:04
3. Dreams from life awake: III. evolution-growth-transformation 10:17
4. Dreams from life awake: IV. determination-energy-resolve 5:59
Artist:
Dover Quartet
CD Title: The Curtis Session
Label: Bimperl Entertainment & Media
Add Date: June 3, 2019
Street Date: June 28, 2019
Websites: Performers - doverquartet.com
Composer - ericsessler.com
