Rice quartet sweeps at international competition

By Ellen Trinklein     9/16/13 7:00pm

It is with dreams of greatness that Rice students plow on, day by day. As of Sept. 1, one group of Rice University alumni has achieved this greatness. The Dover Quartet, formerly the String Quartet in Residence at the Shepherd School of Music, swept the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, regarded by many as one of the most important string quartet competitions in the world.

According to its website, the Dover Quartet formed in 2008 at the Curtis Institute of Music when the players were only 19 years old. After graduating, the musicians went on to earn Master of Music degrees in string quartet studies from Rice, graduating from a special two-year residency program in May 2013.  

The Dover Quartet stars Joel Link and Bryan Lee as violinists, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt as violist and Camden Shaw as cellist.

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Rice cello professor Norman Fischer, one of the quartet's faculty coaches while at Rice, said the group's win at Banff was an impressive feat.

"The Banff International String Quartet competition is the most important string quartet competition in American and perhaps the world," Fischer said. "Twenty-three string quartets applied to compete, only 10 were accepted - and those quartets came from all over the world, so the significance is huge. The Dovers not only won the first prize overall, but [also] ... [all of the] special awards and prizes for performances of specific repertoire required of the quartet."

These special prizes include the R.S. William & Sons Haydn Prize for the best performance of Haydn, the Zoltan Szekely Prize for the best performance of Schubert and the Canadian Commission Prize for the best performance of a newly commissioned work.

Baker College junior Zachary Spontak, a violin student at the Shepherd School of Music, said that many in Shepherd were keeping track of the Dover Quartet's place in the competition.

"The final round of Banff was broadcast online, and a lot of people at Shepherd watched [the Dovers] play and later sweep all the prizes," Spontak said.

Spontak also had the chance to work with Dover Quartet in 2013 and said he can attest to the players' talent.

"They worked with my quartet last year, and we learned a lot from them," Spontak said. "They play with energy and maturity, exploring a wide range of colors in every piece they play. The four of them are some of the nicest people around, sharing their enthusiasm with everyone at Shepherd."

Fischer was also highly complimentary of the players' characters and musical talent.

"In addition to being one of the best young string quartets in the world, they are fabulous people, great musicians and great human beings. It's been an incredible pleasure to work with them over the last two years as a group and indi

vidually."

The Dover Quartet finished its residency program in the spring, and its members now live in Philadelphia, where the quartet is currently the first Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute as well as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-In-Residence at the Caramoor Festival for the 2013-14 season.

Despite their relocation and new professional obligations, the group has not forgotten Rice University; rather, it will continue to visit and stay involved.

"The Dover Quartet has graduated and are living in Philly now, but as we do with other grads from our program, we occasionally have them back to do master classes if they're in the area," Fischer said. "We're planning on having the Dovers back this season and hopefully next season."

According to Spontak, the Dover Quartet leaves a legacy that many at Shepherd

admire.

"They are inspiring to a lot of people at Shepherd," Spontak said. "I think we're all excited for them and the new opportunities they

have because of winning this competition."

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