TRIO ILONA

Drawing inspiration from the great Brahms-circle pianist, Ilona Eibenschütz (1873-1967), Trio Ilona seeks to recover the vibrancy, nuance, and flair of pre-twentieth-century classical playing. Their debut album in 2024 of Schumann Piano Trios on the Deux-Elles label has garnered praise for its pioneering approach to romantic performance practice, and has been called “fascinating” (The Strad) and “endlessly satisfying” (Early Music America).

Kate Bennett Wadsworth is a cellist and gambist devoted to historical performance of all periods, with a special research interest in 19th-century performing practice. She has appeared at festivals across Europe and North America with ensembles such as B’Rock, Tafelmusik, Arion, the Gabrieli Consort, and the Academy of Ancient Music, and given lecture-recitals and masterclasses at the Juilliard School, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Orpheus Institute, and the Utrecht Early Music Festival. Thanks to funding from the Leverhulme Trust and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Kate recently completed a practice-led research project on the relationship between the Schumann Cello Concerto and the cellists of his time, culminating in an annotated edition of the concerto (Bärenreiter), a recording of her new arrangement of the work for cello and string quartet (Deux-Elles), and an article on the astonishing ways 19th-century cellists reworked the concerto for public performance (Orpheus). Kate lives in Norwich, UK, where she co-directs the dynamic ensemble, Norwich Baroque, and runs a chamber music series, while supervising postgraduates in practice-led research at the Guildhall School in London. Kate’s cello is by an unknown 18th-century maker.

Milwaukee native and Grammy award-winning violinist, Ravenna Lipchik, thrives in a musical life shared between the worlds of modern and historical performance practices. Ravenna received her training at the San Francisco Conservatory and the Juilliard School, where she is a graduate of both their modern and Historical Performance programs. Her upcoming season includes performances with ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, The English Concert, Ensemble Pygmalion, and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, as well as an album release of Schumann Piano trios with Trio Ilona, a group dedicated to the exploration of 18th/19th c performance practice. Ravenna plays a Storioni violin, 1775.

Keyboardist Yi-heng Yang has been described as “superbly adept” (Gramophone), and noted for her “remarkable expressivity and technique” (Early Music Magazine). Her work spans from collaborations on period instruments with visionary artists such as the Grammy award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman, in their acclaimed album, “Where Only Stars Can Hear Us” (Avie Records), to groundbreaking and provocative explorations into Romantic and Classical performance practice. In May 2022, she released her first solo fortepiano album, “Free Spirits: early Romantic music on the Graf piano” (Deux-Elles), which received a four-star rating by BBC Music Magazine. Of this recording on an original 19th c. Graf piano, Anne E. Johnson of Classical Voice North America writes that “Yang’s performance of these early Romantic works on one of the best instruments from that era takes us as close to the original experience as we can ever hope to come.” In 2023, Yang formed Trio Ilona with Ravenna Lipchik and Kate Bennett, a group dedicated to historical performance of chamber repertoire from the 18th and 19th centuries. Yi-heng has performed with the Albany Symphony, in the People’s Symphony Concerts, Early Music of the Islands, Carnegie Hall, The Phillips Collection, Chatham Baroque, Columbus Early Music, and The Helicon Series, the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is on the faculty of The Juilliard School. www.yihengyangpianist.com