Short Bio

Wouter Kellerman, a 2X GRAMMY® Award-winning flautist, composer, producer, and philanthropist, has established a remarkable legacy in the music industry. He received his first GRAMMY® Award, which he earned for his album "Winds of Samsara." This exceptional album not only claimed the top position on the US Billboard Charts but also reached the pinnacle of the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 International Radio Airplay Chart. Following this resounding success, Kellerman released his subsequent album, "Love Language," which not only garnered a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album but also debuted at the #1 spot on the Billboard World Music charts within its first week of release.

The year 2021 witnessed the nomination of Kellerman's album "Pangaea" in the Best New Age album category at the 64th GRAMMY® Awards. In 2022, he secured his fourth GRAMMY® nomination for his captivating song "Bayethe," a collaborative effort with Nomcebo Zikode and Zakes Bantwini, in the Best Global Music Performance category. In 2023, Wouter Kellerman celebrated his second GRAMMY® Award win for the aforementioned song, marking yet another pinnacle in his illustrious career.

Kellerman excels in experimenting with the nuances of the flute, including its shades, textures, and colours, and skillfully combines them with other instruments and vocal sounds. Throughout the span of nine albums, Kellerman has consistently expanded upon the rigorous classical training he received during his youth, crafting a distinctive sound that has earned him critical acclaim and numerous awards. He has secured a total of nine SAMAs (South African Music Awards, equivalent to the American GRAMMY®), the most recent being in 2023 for the Best International Achievement Award, further solidifying his position as one of South Africa's premier musicians.

Wouter has showcased his talent on a global stage, performing in cities such as Berlin, Shanghai, Delhi, and Sydney. Notably, he has performed three sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2010, he had the honour of performing at the FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony, captivating a worldwide audience of 700 million viewers. A memorable moment in 2016 was his performance in Johannesburg for the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, with a television audience exceeding 200 million.

In August 2023, Kellerman delivered an intimate hour-long concert exclusively for nine people, which included distinguished guests like the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; the President of China, Xi Jinping; the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi; and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He also graced the stage at the BRICS Gala Dinner, attended by over 200 heads of state. Another notable achievement was being featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in October 2023.

Kellerman composed the solo flute piece "The Long Road" in honor of Nelson Mandela. This composition received the 2016 Global Peace Song Award in the Acoustic/Contemporary Music category. Additionally, his composition "Soweto Travels" achieved first prize in the instrumental category at the 2018 USA Songwriting Competition.

In 2018, Kellerman collaborated with the Ndlovu Youth Choir, a rural choir based in Moutse, Limpopo, South Africa. Together, they created a South African adaptation of Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You." This rendition became an internet sensation, amassing tens of millions of views and earning accolades such as the HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Award) for 'Best Independent Music Video.' This exposure catapulted the Ndlovu Youth Choir into the international limelight, ultimately leading them to the finals of America's Got Talent in 2019. Kellerman used the same effective approach with the Mzansi Youth Choir, which also achieved the same success on America's Got Talent.

Driven by a passion for teaching and empowering young individuals, Kellerman has been providing financial support for the living expenses of ten children in the SOS Children's Village in Ennerdale, South Africa, over the past 24 years. Furthermore, he has funded the construction of a house in the SOS Children's Village in Rustenburg, South Africa. In recognition of his ongoing commitment to improving the lives of these children, Kellerman received a nomination from the SOS Children's Villages for the Inyathelo Special Recognition Award for Philanthropy.

 

Long Bio

More than a decade after the release of his debut album, Grammy® Award winner Wouter Kellerman is recognised as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians, with an extensive, and growing, global following. 

Over the course of nine albums, and through many high-profile live performances and collaborations, Kellerman has steadfastly built on the rigorous classical training of his youth, to create a signature sound that’s earned him both critical praise and multiple awards. 

Among these was becoming the second only individual South African to win a Grammy® Award since Miriam Makeba was honoured by the Recording Academy in 1966. Kellerman’s Winds of Samsara, a collaboration with Indian composer and producer Ricky Kej, was named winner in the Best New Age Album category at the 57th Annual Grammy® Awards in 2015. 

This wasn’t the only accolade received by the critically acclaimed album: Winds Of  Samsara reached #1 on Billboard’s New Age Chart and also peaked at #1 on the Zone Music Reporter (ZMR) Top 100 International Radio Airplay Chart in July 2014, going on to win both the ZMR Album of the Year and Best World Album awards a year later. 

Kellerman followed-up Winds of Samsara with Love Language which once again earned the flautist international attention, being nominated in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category at the 58th Grammy® Awards. The album was singled out by critics for Kellerman’s stunning ability to traverse a diverse musical terrain, in a way that never loses focus.  

From the music of Africa to western classical music to jazz to gospel and on, Kellerman captures the spirit of what it is to be a truly alive and loving person”

— mainlypiano.com

His songwriting was a particular highlight of Love Language with “The Long Road”, a solo flute piece written by Kellerman for Nelson Mandela, winning the Global Peace Song Award in the public-voted Acoustic/Contemporary Music category. 

Drawing on musical influences from Senegal, Spain, Cuba, India, Greece and the USA, Love Language amply demonstrated Kellerman’s ability to dominate global charts, debuting at #1 on Billboard World Music Charts and reaching the top position on the ZMR Top 100 International Radio Airplay Chart in August 2015.  Among the 14-track album’s many accolades was a nomination for Best World Album by ZMR in 2016, as well as a South African Music Award (South Africa’s equivalent to the American Grammy®) for Best Instrumental and/or Classical Album in May of the same year. 

His following adventure was a collaboration with the Soweto Gospel Choir, Symphonic Soweto – A Tribute to Nelson Mandela. The album sees the two Grammy® winners reconceptualise traditional music, freedom songs (including Mandela favourite, “Lizalis’idinga”) and popular songs by South African legends (including Brenda Fassie, Lucky Dube and Miriam Makeba), from a symphonic and choral perspective – as part of honouring Nelson Mandela in the year he would have celebrated his 100th birthday.  

Symphonic Soweto won the 2018 SAMA for Best Adult Contemporary Album - Kellerman’s seventh SAMA award, once again reinforcing his standing as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians. His first SAMA nod came in 2008 when his debut, Colour earned a Best Instrumental Album nomination. Since then Kellerman has earned multiple SAMAs - Best Instrumental/Jazz/popular Classical DVD for Colour Live (2008), and Best Instrumental Album for Two Voices (2009). In 2015, Kellerman won a trio of SAMAS for Winds of Samsara - Best Instrumental Album, Producer of the Year and Best International Achievement. Kellerman's 2013 album Mzansi has also added to his awards collection – winning America’s IMA (Independent Music Award) Vox Pop award for Best World Beat Album in 2014.  

From Symphonic Soweto, Kellerman’s collaborative composition Soweto Travels won the USA Songwriting Competition for Best Instrumental Composition. His ability to work in World and Roots music by exploring the versatility of the flute, and fusing classical and contemporary sounds, is remarkable. 

During a corporate event in late 2018 Kellerman worked with the Ndlovu Youth Choir (a rural choir based in Moutse in the Limpopo province of South Africa) -  and was overwhelmed and enchanted with their spirit, enthusiasm and sound. Wouter has a long history of supporting children, so he decided to collaborate with the choir and help showcase their talent – together they created a South African version of Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You. The song became an internet sensation, going viral with tens of millions of views on social media, and winning awards like the HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Award) for ‘Best Independent Music Video’ - pushing the Ndlovu Youth Choir firmly into the international limelight. Soon after, America’s Got Talent saw the clip and were so impressed that they ended up scouting the choir to enter the 2019 competition. Ndlovu went ahead and delivered a sensational first few rounds, going all the way through to the finals of the competition, showcasing South African music and spirit in the process. Their collaboration is part of Kellerman’s latest album In A Different Light, in which he re-imagines and re-shapes some of his favourite melodies by approaching them from a different angle. In A Different Light received five nominations at the 2020 Independent Music Awards. 

For his 2020 album ‘We’ve Known All Times’, Wouter returned to his classical roots while staying true to his World and Jazz influences. The album includes collaborations with GRAMMY® winning and nominated artists Nadia Shpachenko, Emilio Solla and Soweto Gospel Choir. The album won the 2021 SAMA for Best Classical/Instrumental Album. 

In a review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange by Mark S. Tucker, Kellerman is described as “a masterful player, sensitive to every least nuance in the songs, the sort of winds musician you have to sit down and listen hard to because there are layers within layers within deceptive layers in what first oft appears to be a light hand but is instead calmly crusted over with a wealth of well-thought-out choices and inflections, tradition and expansive individuality linking arms”. 

It’s admiration that Kellerman consistently lives up to, through his songwriting, recorded work, and performances. Indeed, Kellerman is one of South Africa’s most in-demand and hard-working artists. Over the past few years he has travelled extensively, performing in places like Berlin, Shanghai, Delhi, New York and Sydney, Grammy Museum (LA), including sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City (in 2014, 2015 and 2018) and the opening of MIDEM in Cannes (as part of a South African Department of Art and Culture delegation). 

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. Among Kellerman’s many high-profile appearances in South Africa have been the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony (to a global television audience of 700-million people), while the flautist significantly expanded his domestic fanbase in 2013 with a performance of 'The Long Road' on Nelson Mandela Day in front of a stadium of 80,000 people. A 2016 highlight was a performance in Johannesburg for the visiting Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and a television audience of more than 200 million people. 

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 16 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 facilitate the teaching of young dance and music students in his country. 

All of this is a long way from Kellerman’s first appearance as a soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra in 1981, those early days starting a journey that has seen this trained electronic engineer take crossover world music to a global audience.  

Whether it’s his strikingly original flute-playing that moviegoers hear on the soundtrack of the Emmy Award-winning film, Eye of the Leopard, or his own compositions that move listeners all over the world, Kellerman’s work is truly unforgettable.