US-American violinist Elizabeth Stewart has performed throughout North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician, and in orchestras including the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and National Repertory Orchestra (USA). In Autumn of 2020 Elizabeth was appointed principal second violin of the Turku Philharmonic.
Many of Elizabeth’s earliest musical memories take place on the organ bench turning pages for her mother. In fact, one of her first public “performances” occurred at seven years old when she got tired, jumped off the organ bench, and landed directly onto the pedalboard—much to the shock and horror of everyone involved. At least she made an impression.
Elizabeth has been featured as a soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra and Kapubändi. She has also taken part in solo competitions in the United States and Austria and played in masterclasses for such musicians as Stefan Jackiw, Erich Höbarth, Martin Chalifour, Lewis Kaplan, Dan Zhu, and others.
Elizabeth is a member of the Helsinki-based Erinys Quartet. She previously traveled to Havana, Cuba with the Heilerin Quartet (Cleveland, OH) as part of Vermont Mozart Festival’s 2018 “La Ruta de Mozart” series. With Erinys she has performed throughout the United States and Europe. She has studied chamber music with Günter Pichler, members of the Cleveland, Dover, and Pacifica Quartets, as well as with Marko Ylönen. As a member of Erinys Quartet she has studied at the Dover Quartet Workshop at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain.
Elizabeth began playing violin in Upstate New York and later continued her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music (USA) and the Sibelius Academy (Finland). Her primary teachers include Päivyt Meller, Joan Kwuon, David Updegraff, and Virginia Wensel.
In her spare time, Elizabeth is passionate about hiking, playing board games with friends, and searching for the world’s best cup of coffee.