AVANTI PIANO TRIO TO PERFORM CONCERT AT RIPON COLLEGE

Madison-based ensemble; chamber music clinic follows the Oct. 25 performance

The Avanti Piano Trio will present this year’s Lynn Post Northrop Memorial Concert, part of Ripon College’s Chamber Music & Jazz at Ripon Series, on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, at 3:15 p.m. in Demmer Recital Hall at the C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts.

Immediately following the program, the artists will remain in the recital hall to lead a clinic on chamber music preparation and performance techniques open to the public thanks to Ripon “College’s Friends of the Arts.”

“At a time when we often feel forced to choose between preserving the old and embracing the new, Avanti Piano Trio’s work in broadening the piano trio repertoire, an instrumentation that has existed for several centuries, through championing lesser-known musical gems and composers is a beautiful meeting of innovation and tradition,” said Erin Bryan, Associate Professor of Music and Voice Area Coordinator.

THE PROGRAM

The program spans more than a century of piano-trio writing and reflects the ensemble’s commitment to under-heard voices, opening with the Piano Trio in E Minor by English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), written during his student years at London’s Royal College of Music. George Gershwin’s (1898–1937) jazz-inflected Three Preludes follow, along with the Piano Trio No. 2 in D Minor by French composer Rita Strohl (1865–1941), whose music is enjoying a revival after decades of neglect. The concert closes with George Enescu’s (1881–1955) folk-infused Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, arranged for trio by Thomas Wally.

ABOUT THE AVANTI PIANO TRIO

Formed in Madison in 2018, the trio, pianist Alissa Freeman, violinist Hillary Hempel and cellist Hannah Wolkstein, has performed across Wisconsin in concert series and festivals, live on Wisconsin Public Radio and on PBS broadcasts. Its programs pair beloved standards with under-explored gems, with a particular focus on works by women composers. The members are also passionate advocates for music education and artistic access.

The ensemble’s mission made it a natural fit for this year’s memorial concert. “When I approached Doug Northrop with this season’s line-up of artists so that he could designate this year’s concert, he was decidedly enthusiastic about the Avanti Piano Trio, not only because of the trio format, which Lynn loved, but also because of the ensemble’s work in amplifying the voices of women artists,” said Bryan.

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Alissa Freeman, piano, holds doctoral and master’s degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Michigan. A two-time Presser Award recipient, she founded The 5pm Series, which hosted more than 100 online concerts to support musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her project ||:HerClassical:|| produces recordings, editions and teaching resources devoted to 18th-century women composers, and her concerto appearances include the Michigan premiere of Doreen Carwithen’s Piano Concerto with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. She manages and teaches at Panoramic Piano Studio in Madison.

Hillary Hempel, violin, is assistant principal second violin of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, a member of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s first violin section and, since 2023, a member of the Hunt String Quartet. A graduate of the Colburn Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University and a former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, she has appeared as soloist in the Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos.

Hannah Wolkstein, cello, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and continued her studies with Wolfgang Laufer of the Fine Arts Quartet and at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. She has performed at festivals including the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France, and spent ten years as soloist and cello sectional coach with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra. She maintains a private cello studio and is a speech-language pathologist for the Madison Metropolitan School District.

ABOUT THE LYNN POST NORTHROP MEMORIAL CONCERT

Established in 2014, the Lynn Post Northrop Memorial Concert Endowment Fund supports one annual performance by a visiting musician or ensemble in the Chamber Music & Jazz at Ripon Series. Lynn was the wife of Doug Northrop, who joined the Ripon faculty in 1960 and later served as dean of faculty and interim president. The couple supported all aspects of the college, with a special connection to the arts and the library.