Based: Johannesburg
Wouter Kellerman received a Grammy® Award at the 57th Annual Grammy® Awards for his 2014 album Winds of Samsara, a collaboration with Indian composer and producer Ricky Kej. Winds Of Samsara reached #1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums Chart and also peaked at #1 on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart in the month of July 2014.
Kellerman’s album Two Voices won the 2011 SAMA (South African Music Award, equivalent to the American Grammy®) for ‘Best Instrumental Album‘, reinforcing his status as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians. A true crossover artist, Kellerman thrives on experimenting with the shades, textures and colours that his magic flute is capable of painting, and creatively blending them with other instrumentation and vocal sounds.
Wouter has travelled extensively over the last few years, performing around the globe in places like Berlin, Shanghai, New York and Sydney and most recently at a sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Grammy® Museum in LA. His 2012 U.S. tour included appearances at the prestigious Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, at Summerstage and Joe’s Pub in New York City, and at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. In 2010 he performed at the FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony to a global television audience of 700-million people.
Kellerman performed his composition ‘The Long Road’ – a flute solo for Nelson Mandela, – on Nelson Mandela Day in South Africa for a stadium of 80,000 people and a television audience in August 2013. He has also performed at the opening of MIDEM in Cannes, France; MIDEM is the world’s largest music conference and festival and Kellerman was part of a Department of Arts and Culture delegation, representing South Africa.
Kellerman’s 2013 album Mzansi spent 6 months in the Top 40 of the international ZMR charts, (peaking at nr 4) as well as 18 weeks in the Top 40 of the CMJ New World charts. It won the 2014 IMA (Independent Music Award) Vox Pop award in the USA for ‘Best World Beat Album’.
Kellerman’s debut album, Colour, enjoyed rave reviews, topped the charts and was nominated for a 2008 South African Music Award for ‘Best Instrumental Album’. Three of his albums – Colour, Two Voices and Mzansi – were mixed in Los Angeles by Grammy®-winning engineer Husky Hoskulds.
In 2010 his show ‘Kellerman Colour Live’ won the 2010 SAMA for ‘Best Jazz/Instrumental/Popular Classical DVD’. He followed his performance at the FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony with concerts at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz festival in Johannesburg and two performances at the Shanghai World Expo in China.
Passionate about teaching and empowering young people, Kellerman has sponsored the living expenses of ten children in the SOS Children’s Village in Ennerdale, South Africa for the past 14 years; he has also financed the building of a house in the SOS Children’s Village in Rustenburg, South Africa. For his continued efforts in helping give these children a better life, Kellerman was nominated by the SOS Children’s Villages for the Inyathelo Special Recognition Award for Philanthropy. He continues to also facilitate the teaching of young dance and music students in his country.
Wouter Kellerman started playing the flute at the age of ten, and in 1981 appeared as a soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra. He went on to feature in several South African orchestras, garnering numerous musical accolades along the way. Among these was winning the Perrenoud Foundation Prize during the 1997 Vienna International Music Competition.
Using his classical training as a foundation, Kellerman focused his attention on world music, exploring the versatility of the flute and fusing classical and contemporary sounds, resulting in a potent and thrilling musical encounter. He is taking his crossover world music to a global audience, having gained a solid following in his native South Africa. His albums have been released in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, North America and in Australia, where he combined his release with a nationwide tour, including an opening slot on Johnny Clegg’s Down Under tour.
Kellerman’s strikingly original flute-playing can be heard on the soundtrack of the Emmy Award-winning film, Eye of the Leopard.
