DeKALB | In instrumental terms, the Avalon String Quartet will have some bass-sized shoes to fill.

The quartet will replace NIU’s Vermeer Quartet, the award-winning string foursome whose legacy goes back almost 40 years.

“It’s very humbling,” said Tony Devroye, the Avalon Quartet’s violist. “But we don’t feel like we are trying to be the Vermeer Quartet or even the next Vermeer Quartet. The string quartet landscape has changed so much since they were established, and there really is never going to be another group like the Vermeer Quartet, neither musically nor professionally.”

The Avalon Quartet will have its NIU performance debut at 8 p.m. Monday at the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.

The group, which formed at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in 1995, will not only join NIU as the new faculty string quartet this August, but also will join the School of Music’s faculty to teach strings.

“The university community is in for a treat, as the Avalon Quartet impressed us all with their sublime artistry, insightful perspectives and delightful personalities,” said Paul Bauer, director of the School of Music.

None of the Avalon’s members, all in their late 20s to mid-30s, were born before the Vermeer Quartet came to NIU in 1970.

Currently, the quartet serves as artists-in-residence at Indiana University, but will be coming to NIU due in part to financial support from an anonymous donor.

Unlike the stereotypical string quartet, Avalon takes a do-it-yourself approach to the music business.

The musicians have booked their own performances, found management and performed around the country using their own van as transportation.

“We want to bring some of this beautiful art to as many people as we can,” Devroye said.

“We’re just trying to do what we think we do well,” said Blaise Magniere, violinist.

The quartet will have teaching and performing responsibilities at NIU.

“Some days are all teaching,” said Cheng-Hou Lee, cellist. “Some days, we’re just a quartet, and we’re rehearsing.”

All the members of the Avalon took up music at a young age.

“I started when I was eight,” said Marie Wang, violinist.

“It was my mother’s idea and I wasn’t terribly fond of it. Luckily, I stuck with it and fell in love with it,”

“This quartet’s life realizes the things I love about music,” Lee said. “I’m doing something I love.”