About Us

Du.0 is a New York City-based violin duo that specializes in experimental contemporary and noise-based improvised music. Formed in 2015 by Aimée Niemann (they/them) and Charlotte Munn-Wood (she/her), the ensemble “[shines] in moments of deep listening”(I Care If You Listen) and cultivates freedom and innovation in its artistic expression. Whether through improvisation, graphic notation, or use of extra-violinistic sounds and instruments, Du.0 seeks to continue the violin’s legacy into the 21st century by expanding beyond the traditional role and identity of the violinist. 

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Du.0 is passionate about collaborating with living composers, particularly femme and queer artists. We lead by example in this area, having collaborated with or performed the works of composers Emily Praetorius, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Leah Asher, Sky Macklay, Chiyoko Szlavnics, Lucie Vitkova, Laura Jayne Bowler, and actor-director Polina Ionina. Aimée and Charlotte have also co-composed several pieces, in addition to their more free-form improvised music. The duo toured the East Coast in 2018 and have shared shows with musicians of many different genres and styles. They successfully crowd-funded large-scale commissions from Leah Asher and Scott Wollschleger, premiered for a standing-room-only audience in February 2020.  Most recently, Du.0 received the City Artist Corps Grant to present their program O Most Noble Greenness, inspired by Hildegard von Bingen and performed in the tunnels of New York City.  

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The violinists of Du.0 are dedicated educators and believe that people living outside of New York City deserve access to daring and imaginative music just as much as folks in the “scene.” They serve on faculty of Third Street Music Settlement and the Larchmont Music Academy and have led classes and workshops at NYU and in Pennsylvania’s East Penns Valley. Through their community engagement, hunger for new collaborations, and choice of off-the-beaten-path venues, Du.0 has garnered an “enthusiastic audience [and] demonstrates that lively support for an unconventional ensemble is not a relic of the past.” (ICIYL)