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. 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 is a founding member of the Erinys Quartet. With Erinys she has performed throughout the United States and Europe and won prizes at Fischoff, Bad Tölz, and Trondheim chamber music competitions. 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 toured extensively, including engagements at the Lucerne Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw.

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 began playing violin in Upstate New York and holds diplomas from Cleveland Institute of Music, Sibelius Academy (Helsinki, Finland), and Curtis Institute of Music. Her primary teachers include Päivyt Meller, Joan Kwuon, David Updegraff, and Virginia Wensel. She is currently pursuing a Performer’s Diploma in chamber music from Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, as well as additional quartet studies at Escuela Superior de Mùsica Reina Sofìa (Madrid, Spain).

In her spare time, Elizabeth is passionate about being an excellent dog-mom to her rescue Dayanara, playing board games with friends, and searching for the world’s best cup of coffee.