Violist Julianne Lee joins the Dover Quartet

Read more news articles here

The Dover Quartet has appointed violist Julianne Lee as the newest member of the group, beginning next season.  

‘I’m unbelievably excited to be joining the Dover Quartet,’ said Lee. ‘From the first moment we played together, it was as if our instruments were having a conversation with one another. There was a natural synergy that felt incredible. We can’t wait to take our music to audiences around the world and share the magic that happens when four instruments come together in harmony.’

The Curtis Institute of Music alumna currently serves as assistant principal second violin of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal second violin with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Already a faculty member at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and the Berklee College of Music, Lee will return to her former college working with students as part of the quartet’s Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble residency. 

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

As a chamber musician, Lee was previously the second violinist of the Johannes Quartet and has performed at numerous music festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music at the Banff Centre, Aspen Music Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival.

‘To say it was “love at first sound” might sound silly, but that’s exactly what we experienced when we first read with Julianne,’ said Camden Shaw, cellist of the Dover Quartet. ‘There was the uncanny feeling that we had already played together for years; and yet at the same time, the group sounded uniquely fresh and inspired. We are so fortunate and grateful to be welcoming her into our family and look forward to taking the Dover Quartet to new musical heights!’

Lee’s appointment follows the departure of founding violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt who left the quartet in 2022. Hezekiah Leung who has been performing with the quartet this season will make his final performance with the quartet in August 2023. 

Alongside its residency at the Curtis Institute, the quartet holds residencies with the Kennedy Center, Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, Artosphere, and the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival. Over its career, its accolades include two Grammy nominations for its recording The Schumann Quartets and Volume 2 - The Middle Quartets;  victory at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand and first prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, plus an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award.