Violalia Duo is a collaboration between violinist/violist Laura Thompson and violist/composer Hannah Selin. Founded in 2021, the duo embraces the limber, conversational nature of their instrumentation, bringing musicality, curiosity, and a sense of humor to audiences in often-intimate concert settings. The group’s name is a both mashup of violin and viola, and a play on the word glossolalia (speaking in tongues).

Violalia Duo is dedicated to exploring the musical and sonic possibilities of their small but mighty instrumentation. Their repertoire focuses on 20th and 21st century music for violin and viola, and includes works by Augusta Read Thomas, Kaija Saariaho, George Tsontakis, Bohuslav Martinů, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ennio Morricone, Ari Sussman, Sepehr Pirasteh and Selin herself. The duo also has an avid interest in creating and commissioning new works.