Dover Quartet Workshop
The Dover Quartet String Quartet Workshop is being paused for summer 2025. We look forward to welcoming students to apply for summer 2026.
Join the GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet for a 10-day summer program, designed to bring your string quartet to the next level. Prepare for competitions, residencies, and a professional career.
The program offers coachings and masterclasses with members of the Dover Quartet. The program will also provide participating string quartets with a professionally produced video of one of their performances and career advice on promotion, social media, and networking opportunities. Performances will be held at Curtis in Philadelphia and other venues.
The Dover Quartet seeks groups that have been working together for at least a year and are poised to embark on professional careers. Two to four quartets will be selected on the basis of competitive auditions and tuition and housing will be provided free of charge to participants.
Program Highlights
The 10-day summer intensive is designed to help advanced string quartets prepare for competitions, residencies, and a professional career.
- Daily coachings and masterclasses with members of the Dover Quartet
- Performance opportunities at Curtis and other Philadelphia venues
- Professionally produced video of performance from Workshop
- Career advice on promotion, social media, artist management, and networking opportunities
- Tuition and housing are free
Sample Daily Schedule
| 8:00 am - 9:00 am: | Breakfast |
|---|---|
| 9:00 am - 11:00 am: | Rehearsal |
| 11:00 am - 12:30 pm: | Private Coachings |
| 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm: | Lunch |
| 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm: | Private Coachings |
| 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: | Dinner |
| 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: | Masterclass, Discussion, or Social Event |
Application Requirements
This program is being paused until summer 2026.
- The quartet must have a history of at least one year together at the time of application.
- Video submission of the following:
- Two contrasting movements written prior to 1800
- Two contrasting movements written between 1800 and 1980
- One movement written after 1980
- The contrasting movements may be from the same piece or taken from different pieces
- Brief Written Statement: Describe some of your current musical challenges and what you hope to gain most from the Workshop if accepted.
Video Requirements:
- No edits; each movement should be recorded in one take with one fixed camera. Multiple microphones are allowed and encouraged if possible.
- Recordings should be no more than 6 months old at the time of application.
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The Dover Quartet Workshop is an ideal intensive program for any ensemble preparing for touring, competitions, or looking to take a leap in honing their craft.
— Baldouret Quartet
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We immediately fell in love with the school after this experience and it was one of the main reasons we applied to study at Curtis. I couldn't recommend it enough to any aspiring young quartet looking for a summer masterclass of the highest level.
— Erinys Quartet
Meet the 2022 Quartets
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Balourdet Quartet
The Balourdet Quartet, based in Boston, Massachusetts, is currently in residence at the New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Program. The quartet received the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition as well as the top prize awarded in the 2021 Premio Paolo Borciani in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The group also received the Gold Medal in the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2021 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition.
Highlights of the Balourdet’s 2022-23 season include appearances at Chamber Music Detroit, the Grand Piano Series in Naples, FL, NEC’s Jordan Hall, Tuesday Matinees at Merkin Hall, and Wigmore Hall. This summer, the group will also perform at the Oklahoma Mozart Festival, Music Mountain, and Bravo! Vail as well as a residency teaching and performing at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. The quartet is thrilled to premiere a new commissioned work by Karim Al-Zand during the 2022-2023 season, made possible through Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning Grant.
The Balourdet has performed at festivals and series including Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Chigiana, La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, Montgomery Chamber Music, Santa Fe ProMusica, and the Schneider Concert Series. It works primarily with Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory, as well as Miriam Fried and members of the Cleveland and Borromeo Quartets. The quartet was formed in 2018 at Rice University in Houston, Texas under the tutelage of James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Cho-Liang Lin.
The Balourdet Quartet gets its name from Antoine Balourdet, chef extraordinaire at the Hotel St. Bernard and beloved member of the Taos School of Music community.
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Erinys Quartet
The Erinys Quartet, based in Helsinki, Finland, was formed by an international group of musicians studying at the Sibelius Academy. Erinys Quartet has primarily studied with Marko Ylönen and Teemu Kupiainen at the Sibelius Academy, and has received additional guidance from Levon Chilingirian, Paavo Pohjola, Sini Simonen (Castalian Quartet), Simone Gramaglia (Quartteto di Cremona), and Corentin Apparailly (Arod Quartet), among others.
The ensemble traveled to Norway to participate in the 2021 Trondheim International Chamber Competition where they also had the opportunity to play concerts around the greater Trondheim area.
In the summers of 2020 and 2021, Erinys was featured virtually as an Emerging Artist ensemble at Mimir Chamber Music Festival where they performed web-based concerts for global audiences. Summer 2021 also took them to the Greek cities of Larisa and Meteora where they performed as part of the Meteora Music Days festival. In Autumn 2021, the quartet collaborated with composer and percussionist I-Han Fu premiering works for string quartet and tabla.
Since 2021 Erinys has been supported by Le Dimore del Quartetto, a Milan-based network devoted to developing the careers of young string quartets by providing opportunities to perform and study throughout Europe in historic houses and venues.
In the 2022 summer season, Erinys Quartet will participate in the inaugural Dover Quartet Workshop at the Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Festival Groba in Ponteareas, Spain. They are also excited to return to Mimir Chamber Music Festival in Fort Worth, Texas. Additionally, the quartet is honored to perform Kaija Saariaho’s “Terra Memoria” in the composer’s upcoming 70th anniversary celebration concert in Helsinki.
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Partridge String Quartet
As Musica Viva Australia’s 2020-22 Futuremaker artists, the award-winning Partridge String Quartet are fast becoming a force in the Australian classical music scene. Brilliant and dynamic chamber musicians, the quartet strives to connect and surprise audiences through their bold performances and creative collaborations which have been featured on ABC Classic, Violin Channel, CutCommon, and Limelight Magazines.
Formed at the Australian National Academy of Music, the quartet received national recognition as first-prize winners of the inaugural Queensland International Chamber Music Competition (2019) and ANAM Chamber Music Competition (2018). In 2018, the quartet were recipients of the Husky Energy Artist Award after they were selected for an international string quartet program residency at the Banff Centre of Arts and Creativity in Canada where they were mentored by the JACK Quartet, Eybler Quartet, Parker Quartet, and Paul Wiancko. Throughout their studies, the quartet received tutelage and mentoring from the music faculty of ANAM, Australian String Quartet, Borodin String Quartet, Trio Dali, and Alban Berg Quartet. The quartet performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre as part of Musica Viva’s 2022 National Concert Season and are recipients of the AYO Ernest Llewellyn Memorial Trust Fund Travel Award.
Passionate advocates of Australian composers, Partridge performed a complete five string quartet cycle by Richard Mills AM and were recipients of the Musica Viva Chamber Music Prize for their performance of Paul Stanhope’s Second Quartet. They have presented collections of Australian works at the MPavilion, National Gallery of Victoria, Ian Potter Centre, National Film and Sound Archive Theatre in Canberra, and are engaged in exciting projects and music festivals around Australia.
