At the very beginning of the concert by the Dover Quartet, many listeners might get the impression they have arrived at an American folk festival. The composition Strum by Jessie Montgomery audibly revels in its roots in the folk music of the United States. And where else should such a composition be heard than at an event dedicated to Antonín Dvořák, who wrote his most frequently performed works while living in America. His String Sextet in A major brings the programme to a conclusion, and folk music is what links it to contemporary America. Dvořák wrote his only sextet immediately after finishing his first series of Slavonic Dances, and the works are written in a very similar vein. Joining with the superb Dover Quartet for the concluding sextet are Josef Špaček on viola and Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin on cello. At the centre of this programme with echoes of folk singing is a work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: a movement of his First String Quartet is based on a song the composer heard while visiting his sister in the Ukraine.

Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated Dover Quartet is one of the world’s most in-demand chamber ensembles. The Dover Quartet is the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and holds additional residencies at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and the Walton Arts Center’s Artosphere festival. The group’s awards 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. Its honors include the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award.

The Dover Quartet’s 2023-24 season includes a North American tour with Leif Ove Andsnes, performances with Haochen Zhang and David Shifrin. A sought-after ensemble, recent collaborators include Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnaton, Ray Chen, the Escher String Quartet, Bridget Kibbey, Anthony McGill, Edgar Meyer, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and Davóne Tines. In 2022, the quartet premiered Steven Mackey’s theatrical-musical work Memoir, alongside arx duo and actor-narrator Natalie Christa. They also recently premiered works by Mason Bates, Marc Neikrug, and Chris Rogerson.

The Dover Quartet’s highly acclaimed three-volume recording, Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Cedille Records), was hailed as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate” (The Strad). The quartet’s discography also includes Encores (Brooklyn Classical), a recording of 10 popular movements from the string quartet repertoire; The Schumann Quartets (Azica Records), which was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance; Voices of Defiance: 1943, 1944, 1945 (Cedille Records); and an all-Mozart debut recording (Cedille Records), featuring the late Michael Tree — long-time violist of the Guarneri Quartet. Voices of Defiance, which explores works written during World War II by Viktor Ullman, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Simon Laks, was lauded as “undoubtedly one of the most compelling discs released this year” (The Wall Street Journal).

The Dover Quartet draws from the lineage of the distinguished Guarneri, Cleveland, and Vermeer quartets. Its members studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the New England Conservatory, and the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. They were mentored extensively by Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, Kenneth Goldsmith, Joseph Silverstein, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, and Peter Wiley. The Dover Quartet was formed at Curtis in 2008; its name pays tribute to Dover Beach by fellow Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.

The Dover Quartet’s faculty residency at Curtis integrates teaching and mentorship, a robust international performance career, and a cutting-edge digital presence. The innovative residency allows Curtis to reinvigorate its tradition of maintaining a top-quality professional string quartet on its faculty, while providing resources for the ensemble to experiment with new technologies and engage audiences digitally. Working closely with students in the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet Program, the Dover Quartet coaches and mentors the most promising young string quartets to nurture a new generation of leading professional chamber ensembles.

The Dover Quartet plays on the following instruments and proudly endorses Thomastik-Infeld strings:

• Joel Link: a very fine Peter Guarneri of Mantua, 1710–15, on generous loan from Irene R. Miller through the Beare’s International Violin Society

• Bryan Lee: Riccardo Antoniazzi, Milan, 1904; Samuel Zygmuntowicz, Brooklyn, 2020

• Julianne Lee: Robert Brode, 2005

• Camden Shaw: Joseph Hill, London, 1770

source: Konzertdirektion Andrea Hampl

Praised for his remarkable range of colours, his confident and concentrated stage presence, his virtuosity and technical poise as well as the beauty of his tone Josef Špaček has gradually emerged as one of the leading violinists of his generation. His performances of a wide range of repertoire demonstrate his “astonishing articulation and athleticism” (The Scotsman) and “a richness and piquancy of timbre.” (The Telegraph).

Forthcoming highlights include debuts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Petr Popelka, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner, NHK Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Anja Bihlmaier, as well as returns to the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Joanna Mallwitz, Bamberger Symphoniker and Aurel Dawidiuk, Symphoniker Hamburg and Adam Hickox, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and Kevin John Edusei, Dutch Radio Philharmonic and Stephan Zilias, the Czech Philharmonic and Thomas Adès and George Enescu Philharmonic and Tomáš Netopil.

Recent highlights include highly successful debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša (“his steely technique handling the angular bonhomie as surely as the passing lyrical strains. In the Andante, Špaček rendered the lovely main theme with a beguiling tenderness and sweetness of tone that recalled Suk, his illustrious predecessor.” - CCR), with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Nathalie Stutzmann, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Andrew Manze, the Orchestre National de Lille and Jan-Willem de Vriend, concerts with Sinfonia Varsovia and Marta Gardolińska in Warsaw and Brussels, a concerto and recital tour in China, as well as returns to the Dresdner Philharmonie and Kahchun Wong, the Berner Symphoniker and Anna Sułkowska-Migoń and the Macao Orchestra and Lio Kuokman, as well as a residency with the Residentie Orchestra The Hague with Anja Bihlmaier and Jun Märkl. He also returned to the Verbier Festival for a performance of the Barber concerto.

He equally enjoys giving recitals and playing chamber music and is a regular guest at festivals and in concert halls throughout Europe. He ist he artistic director and co-founder of the Troja chmber music festival Festival, in Prague.
With cellist Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin and pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu he forms the Trio Zimbalist. The trio regularly tours in the US and Europe. Their first CD release with piano trios of Weinberg, Auerbach and Dvořák received high accolades from the international press, including Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice in March 2024, describing the album as “miraculously fresh,” “imaginative,” and “inventive”.

In September 2023 Supraphon released Josef’s recording of Martinů’s Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, violin sonata no. 3 and Five Short Pieces with pianist Miroslav Sekera and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Petr Popelka. The BBC Music Magazine commented that “Špaček and Sekera are virtuosic in the opening movement and searching in the Adagio. There’s a special piquancy in their Scherzo, and all these elements are combined in the finale, where Špaček’s violin tone has shining poise.”

Previous recordings for the Supraphon label are an album with cellist Tomáš Jamník, featuring works for violin and cello by Janáček, Martinů, Schulhoff and Klein; his highly praised recording of the violin concertos of Dvořák and Janáček, coupled with the Fantasy of Suk, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek and a recital disc with works for violin and piano by Smetana, Janáček and Prokofiev with pianist Miroslav Sekera.

Josef Špaček studied with Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School in New York, Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and with Jaroslav Foltýn at the Prague Conservatory.

After having served as concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for nine seasons until the end of the 2019/20, he has devoted himself exclusively to his solo career. The orchestra has named him the Associate Artist in Residence.

Josef Špaček performs on the ca. 1732 “LeBrun; Bouthillard” Guarneri del Gesù violin, generously on loan from an anonymous sponsor.

source: agentura Makropulos

photo © Andrej Grilc

Greek cellist Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin is forging an unwavering artistic path, aiming to evoke powerfully stirring illusions through his music making. He regularly appears as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America and Europe, most recently as a soloist with conductor-violinist Leonidas Kavakos and the Athens State Orchestra. Timotheos made his first major US solo appearance in 2016 with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Spano. He then gained international recognition as a prize winner at the prestigious International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland, where he was singled out by the local press for his “…great and passionate soloist style: expressive, vibrant singing lines, sparkling rhythm”, and “interesting, original personality”.

He has also appeared as a soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic and Susanna Mälkki showcasing the rarely performed Shostakovich 2nd Cello Concerto. Other notable solo performances include appearances with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Israel Camerata, the NEC Philharmonia Orchestra, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony in C Orchestra. He is the winner of the 2015 Astral Artists National Auditions.

Timotheos is a founding member of Trio Zimbalist, a piano trio comprising Curtis Institute alumni which – through their commitment to artistic excellence – carries on the storied legacy of legendary violinist and Curtis director Efrem Zimbalist. Trio Zimbalist made their European debut in summer 2021 and continues to tour in both Europe and North America. Their first album was released with great success in January 2024 under the Curtis Studio Label.

Timotheos made his Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2019, performing cello and chamber music works by renowned contemporary composer Leonid Desyatnikov.

In 2017, he was named Artist-in-Residence at 'Performance Today', the most listened-to classical music radio program in the US. Several of his recordings were broadcast and received with great success throughout the year. In 2023, Timotheos was named Artistic Director of the Samos Young Artist Festival, a position which he still holds today.

An avid chamber musician, Timotheos has collaborated with various important musical figures such as violinists Leonidas Kavakos, Noah-Bendix Balgley, Miriam Fried, Pamela Frank, violists Roberto Diaz and Kim Kashkashian, and pianists Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn. He has participated at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he performed with Jonathan Biss, Joseph Lin, Samuel Rhodes, and Peter Wiley. Other festival appearances of note include Chamberfest Cleveland, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars, Molyvos Festival, the Moritzburg Festival, and the Dimitria Festival.

Timotheos received his Bachelor of Music at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey. He then entered a class taught by Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory and graduated with a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma. In addition, he was a scholarship recipient of the Onassis Foundation.

source: Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin

The Bethlehem Chapel is one of the most important landmarks in Prague. The original building, dating from 1391 and closely associated with the reform movement of Master Jan Hus, was torn down. A modern replica was built at the same site in the 1850s based on a design by the important architect Jaroslav Fragner. At present, the Bethlehem Chapel serves as ceremony hall for the Czech Technical University. It is the site of not only graduation ceremonies for the schools students, but also various cultural and social events.