Wouter Kellerman

Globe-trotting  flutist and composer Wouter Kellerman received a 2014 Grammy® Award for  his album WINDS OF SAMSARA. That album reached #1 on the US  Billboard Charts, and also peaked at #1 on the Zone Music Reporter (ZMR) Top 100  International Radio Airplay Chart in the month of July 2014, winning  both the ZMR ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Best World Album’ awards.

His following album LOVE LANGUAGE debuted at #1 on the World Music  Billboard charts. In December 2015 it received a  Grammy® nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Kellerman’s  second nomination in as many years. In May 2016, LOVE LANGUAGE won the  SAMA (South African Music Award, equivalent to the American Grammy®) for  ‘Best Instrumental and/or Classical Album’. From the album, the song  ‘The Long Road’, a solo flute piece which Wouter wrote for Nelson  Mandela, won the 2016 Global Peace Song Award in the public voted  Acoustic/ Contemporary Music category.

SYMPHONIC SOWETO, A TRIBUTE TO NELSON MANDELA, is a collaboration with  the Soweto Gospel Choir and features the Kwazulu Natal Philharmonic and  Angelique Kidjo. SYMPHONIC SOWETO takes inspiration from the time of  oppression and the period of liberation and the journey between these -  in short, telling the story of Mandela and Soweto through its musical  classics. From the album, Wouter’s composition ‘Soweto Travels’ won  first prize in the instrumental category of the 2018 USA Songwriting  Competition. The album won the 2018 SAMA for ‘Best Adult Contemporary  Album’. This was Kellerman’s seventh SAMA award, reinforcing his status as one of South Africa’s foremost musicians.

2019 saw the release of IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT, which received five  nominations at the New York-based Independent Music Awards, as well as  two SAMA nominations, including one for Best Produced Album.

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 television show 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.

Wouter has travelled extensively, performing around the globe in  places like Berlin, Shanghai, Delhi, New York and Sydney, including  sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2014, 2015 and  2018. 

USA tours included appearances at the prestigious Kennedy Centre  in Washington DC, at Summerstage, 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' 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, where he was part of a Department of Arts and Culture  delegation, representing South Africa. 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 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.