Dover Quartet to Perform Brahms, Pura Fé & Dvořák at Chamber Music Northwest
The ensemble returns to Portland's Agnes Flanagan Chapel to perform works arranged by Jerod Impichch a achaaha' Tate from their Woodland Songs album.
On October 6, 7:30 p.m. at Lewis & Clark's Agnes Flanagan Chapel, Chamber Music Northwest (CMNW) will kick off its 2026/27 mainstage season with a program of technically demanding Romantic-period pieces by Brahms and Dvořák that bookend Pura Fé's (Tuscarora) Rattle Songs. Originally written for the Indigenous a cappella group Ulali, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate (Chickasaw) arranged the work for string quartet as part of his collaboration with Dover Quartet on their 2025 album Woodland Songs. The Dover Quartet calls the project “an exploration of the rich inheritance of music from the North American continent.”
From Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim: “The Dover Quartet's international career skyrocketed shortly after becoming Chamber Music Northwest Protégé Artists in 2013. Over the past 13 years, they have treated us to some of our most memorable performances in Portland. The Dovers unparalleled tonal richness will be on full display once again in masterpieces by Brahms and Dvořák, and in Rattle Songs by Indigenous blues artist Pura Fé, newly arranged by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, they are bringing to this concert program. Don't miss this evening in the acoustically and visually stunning Agnes Flanagan Chapel at Lewis & Clark College!”
DOVER QUARTET: Brahms, Pura Fé & Dvořák
Wednesday, October 28 • 7:30 PM
Flanagan Chapel, Lewis & Clark College
The two-time Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet is one of the world's most lauded chamber ensembles. Hailed as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate” (The Strad), the Dovers return to CMNW to kick off our 2026/27 Year-Round Season. The evening begins with Brahms's gorgeous String Quartet No. 3, followed by American Indian composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate's newest string quartet orchestration of Pura Fé's—Indigenous activist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller—Rattle Songs, and Dvořák's joyful String Quartet No. 11 serves as a fitting finale.
Concert Program
BRAHMS String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67
PURA FE Rattle Songs (Arr. Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate)
DVOŘÁK String Quartet No. 11 in C Major, Op. 61, B. 121
Joel Link, violin
Bryan Lee, violin
Julianne Lee, viola
Camden Shaw, cello
The Dover Quartet has earned a place among the defining string quartets of its generation. Its performances unite extraordinary depth, precision, and power with the “full and glowing sound” admired by BBC Music Magazine, which named it one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years.
The Dover Quartet's 2026-27 season brings the ensemble to leading stages and series across the country, including Chamber Music Northwest, the National Gallery of Art, Vivo Performing Arts, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Cal Performances. The season also includes collaborations with Edgar Meyer, Michelle Cann, and Marc-André Hamelin.
The Quartet enters its next era with renewed purpose. Following first violinist Joel Link's 2025 appointment as Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra, where he holds the Blossom-Lee Concertmaster Chair, the Quartet reaffirmed its commitment to continuing together in its current configuration and to performing chamber music at the highest level, without compromise. Across the ensemble, the members' individual careers also encompass roles with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Escher Quartet, as well as extensive work in chamber music and teaching. These distinct musical lives deepen their shared work, and the Dover remains a central artistic commitment for all four musicians.
At the center of the Quartet's recent work is Woodland Songs, released in 2025 on Curtis Studio. The album features the world-premiere recording of Abokkoli' Taloowa' (Woodland Songs), commissioned by the Quartet from Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, and Tate's string-quartet orchestration of Rattle Songs by Indigenous singer-songwriter Pura Fé. Dvořák's “American” Quartet completes an album that illuminates connections among Indigenous traditions and American musical life—a story profiled by NPR Music.
The Quartet's acclaimed discography includes two Grammy-nominated recording projects: the three-volume Beethoven Complete String Quartets for Cedille Records and The Schumann Quartets for Azica Records. The Strad praised the Beethoven cycle as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate.” The Quartet's distinctions include a sweep of all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and Chamber Music America's Cleveland Quartet Award.
The Dover Quartet's artistic identity is rooted in a living tradition of American quartet playing, passed directly from one generation of musicians to the next. Formed at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2008 and further shaped by intensive study at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, the Quartet worked closely with Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, Kenneth Goldsmith, Joseph Silverstein, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, and Peter Wiley. Through these relationships, the Dover developed deep connections to the traditions of the Guarneri, Cleveland, and Vermeer quartets.
In 2020, the Dover was named the inaugural Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at Curtis, establishing a new model that brought together teaching, performance, and technology. The Quartet's members continue their relationship with Curtis as faculty members, helping to pass the traditions that shaped them to a new generation of chamber musicians. The Quartet takes its name from Dover Beach by fellow Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.
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