Erinys Quartet to Bring Recital to East Lansing on Thursday
The internationally performing Erinys Quartet is making its East Lansing debut on Thursday at the Cook Recital Hall on MSU’s campus. The ticketed event will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public, as part of the Guest Recital Series for the MSU School of Music, underwritten by WKAR.
The Erinys Quartet includes Elizabeth Stewart (violin), Joosep Reimaa (violin), Marija Räisänen, (viola), and Stergios Theodoridis (cello). The group formed in 2018 at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and has been the graduate string quartet-in-residence at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music since fall 2025.
Their upcoming recital will include some string quartet masterworks, including Beethoven’s beloved String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major and Béla Bartók’s third string quartet. The recital will also feature Gabriella Smith’s 2015 Carrot Revolution, which showcases a range of musical genres, including folk, jazz and rock.
Elizabeth Stewart, one of the quartet’s violinists, is particularly looking forward to the MSU concert because it features her favorite three pieces to play.
“Bartòk, Beethoven, and Gabriella Smith represent three very different areas of the repertoire but all use the string quartet format to its fullest potential,” Stewart said. “It’s especially fun to play for university audiences because we consider it a huge privilege to be even a small part of how the next generation of musicians experiences music. We hope our love and enthusiasm for this incredibly rewarding repertoire and career is contagious!”
Of the three, her favorite piece is Bartòk’s third quartet, his shortest quartet at only 15 minutes long. Stewart says the piece is “full of so much power, depth and color.”
“It’s so satisfying to play because every time we perform it I find myself going even deeper into the weird and wonderful world he creates,” she said. “It’s a piece I don’t think I could ever get tired of playing. There’s always something new to discover in the haunting harmonies and wacky textures that Bartòk creates, not to mention how fun it is to lose myself in the wild, frenzied folk dances.”
While touring the world, presenting concerts throughout the U.S. and Europe, Stewart has enjoyed building relationships and meaningful memories.
“The food we eat, the friends we make, and all the crazy things that happen while traveling make our lives really rich and exciting,” she said, “and we get to experience this all with each other. Having three other people to share all of these memories with is the best part.”
The quartet will later perform in the San Francisco area, Italy, Finland and Japan.
Tickets for the East Lansing concert are available online. Adult tickets are $15.50 and senior tickets (ages 60+) are $13.50. Students with a valid MSU student ID can receive a free ticket. To request a free ticket for a child under 18 years old, reach out to the College of Music Box Office at 517-353-5340 or email music.MainOffice@msu.edu.
Correction: This story was corrected to state where the Erinys Quartet met.