Wouter Kellerman
Wouter Kellerman, Globe-trotting flutist and composer received a GRAMMY® Award for his album Winds of Samsara, reaching #1 on the US Billboard Charts and peaking at #1 on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 International Radio Airplay Chart.
His album Love Language was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album debuting at #1 on the Billboard World Music charts in its first week.
Kellerman thrives on experimenting with the shades, textures and colors that his magic flute is capable of painting, creatively blending them with other instrumentation and vocal sounds. Over the course of nine albums, many high-profile live performances and collaborations, Kellerman has steadfastly built on the rigorous classical training of his youth, creating a signature sound that’s earned him critical praise and multiple awards. Winning a total of eight SAMA's (South African Music Award, the South African equivalent to the American Grammy®), reinforcing his status as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians.
Composing the song ‘The Long Road’, a solo flute piece written for Nelson Mandela, he won the 2016 Global Peace Song Award in the Acoustic/ Contemporary Music category. Wouter’s composition ‘Soweto Travels’ won first prize in the instrumental category of the 2018 USA Songwriting Competition.
Collaborating with the Ndlovu Youth Choir (a rural choir based in Moutse, Limpopo, South Africa) in 2018 to help showcase their talent – together they created a South African version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’. The song became an internet sensation, with tens of millions of views, 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 and all the way to the 2019 finals of America’s Got Talent.
Wouter has performed in places like Berlin, Shanghai, Delhi and Sydney, including three sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2010 he performed at the FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony to a global audience of 700-million viewers. A 2016 highlight was a performance in Johannesburg for the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, with a television audience of more than 200 million.
Passionate about teaching and empowering young people, Kellerman has sponsored ten children in the SOS Children’s Village in Ennerdale, South Africa for the past 18 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 better lives, 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 music and dance students in his country.
His album Love Language was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album debuting at #1 on the Billboard World Music charts in its first week.
Kellerman thrives on experimenting with the shades, textures and colors that his magic flute is capable of painting, creatively blending them with other instrumentation and vocal sounds. Over the course of nine albums, many high-profile live performances and collaborations, Kellerman has steadfastly built on the rigorous classical training of his youth, creating a signature sound that’s earned him critical praise and multiple awards. Winning a total of eight SAMA's (South African Music Award, the South African equivalent to the American Grammy®), reinforcing his status as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians.
Composing the song ‘The Long Road’, a solo flute piece written for Nelson Mandela, he won the 2016 Global Peace Song Award in the Acoustic/ Contemporary Music category. Wouter’s composition ‘Soweto Travels’ won first prize in the instrumental category of the 2018 USA Songwriting Competition.
Collaborating with the Ndlovu Youth Choir (a rural choir based in Moutse, Limpopo, South Africa) in 2018 to help showcase their talent – together they created a South African version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’. The song became an internet sensation, with tens of millions of views, 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 and all the way to the 2019 finals of America’s Got Talent.
Wouter has performed in places like Berlin, Shanghai, Delhi and Sydney, including three sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2010 he performed at the FIFA Soccer World Cup Closing Ceremony to a global audience of 700-million viewers. A 2016 highlight was a performance in Johannesburg for the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, with a television audience of more than 200 million.
Passionate about teaching and empowering young people, Kellerman has sponsored ten children in the SOS Children’s Village in Ennerdale, South Africa for the past 18 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 better lives, 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 music and dance students in his country.
“In increasingly divided times, the world wide refugee crisis is an opportunity for us to look past our differences and look for common ground and forge ahead to a more united space.
We need to put ourselves in the shoes of refugees and treat them with compassion.
We can welcome them and help them rebuild their lives, which would enable them in turn to bring a unique and diverse contribution to the development and growth of our societies”
We need to put ourselves in the shoes of refugees and treat them with compassion.
We can welcome them and help them rebuild their lives, which would enable them in turn to bring a unique and diverse contribution to the development and growth of our societies”
