About Us

Engaging audiences from the concert hall to the public library, Houston-based Duo Impetuoso is an up-and-coming ensemble committed to mastering and re-defining the canon. Violist Molly Wise and pianist James Palmer first began playing together while in the doctoral program in the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. In 2023, they decided to make it official and form “Duo Impetuoso” — a reference to the brazen performance indication atop Rebecca Clarke’s seminal Viola Sonata.

In their first season as an official duo, the pair performed at Houston’s Steinway Selection Center , the Archway Gallery, Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and the American Viola Society Festival in Los Angeles. This program, completely dedicated to works composed by women, included a newly commissioned work by Houston-based composer Tian Qin.

Duo Impetuoso’s fall 2024 will include more performances around the Houston area, featuring a newly-commissioned piece by the young composers of the AFA Texas Summer Composition Intensive. More to come on this!

Both Molly and James are active performers in the Houston music scene, performing with classical and contemporary organizations such as Musiqa, Kinetic Ensemble, and Da Camera Houston. As dedicated educators, both maintain private studios and coach budding chamber musicians at the American Festival for the Arts (AFA Texas). Molly and James are doctoral students at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.