Dover Quartet Names Julianne Lee As New Viola Player

The Dover Quartet, the ensemble-in-residence at Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, has announced Julianne Lee as its new violist.

Ms Lee, who is currently the assistant principal second violin of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the principal second violin of the Boston Pops Orchestra, has made a name for herself on the violin and viola as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.

She begins her new role with the Dover Quartet, which we named one of the ten greatest string quartets of all time, in September 2023, joining violinists Joel Link and Bryan Lee and cellist Camden Shaw.

The Dover Quartet was founded in 2008 at the Curtis Institute of Music by members of the Guarneri, Cleveland, and Vermeer quartets. The group’s accolades include a stunning 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.

The quartet has worked with, or will soon work with, Emanuel Ax, Ray Chen, the Escher and Pavel Haas Quartets, Bridget Kibbey, Anthony McGill, and the late Peter Serkin.

The third volume of their Beethoven string quartet cycle was recently released. Volume two, which includes the middle quartets, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2022, as was the quartet’s recording of the Schumann string quartets for Azica Records in 2020.

Julianne Lee has performed as a guest principal violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She was also the second violinist for the Johannes String Quartet, which performed commissioned works by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Derek Bermel, and William Bolcom.

‘We are thrilled to welcome Curtis alumna Julianne Lee back to the school as she joins our faculty and the Dover Quartet,’ says president and CEO Roberto Daz. ‘Throughout Curtis’ nearly 100-year history, we have emphasised training young musicians to excel at chamber music, in addition to orchestral and solo repertoire, which is what makes the Curtis experience so unique. I am thrilled to see Julianne and the quartet carry on this legacy and inspire future generations of students and audiences.’

‘It may sound silly to say it was ‘love at first sound,’ says Camden Shaw, cellist of the Dover Quartet.

‘There was an uncanny feeling that we’d been playing together for years, but the group sounded uniquely fresh and inspired. We are so fortunate and grateful to have her join our family, and we look forward to taking the Dover Quartet to new musical heights!’

Ms Lee’s appointment comes after the departure of the Dover Quartet’s founding violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt in August 2022, and the season-long appointment of violist Hezekiah Leung for the 2022-23 season.

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