Wouter Kellerman

Award-winning South African flutist, producer, composer, and philanthropist Wouter Kellerman first surfaced toward the end of the 2000s, blending classical flute technique with modern production in a style that fused global traditions. After steadily cultivating listeners across his native country, the musician achieved wider recognition during the following decade when Winds of Samsara captured the Grammy for Best New Age Album in 2015. Through the remainder of the 2010s and into the 2020s he sustained that momentum, securing repeated South African Music Awards for the global and new age releases Love Language, Symphonic Soweto, In a Different Light, and Pangaea. In 2022 Kellerman earned a second Grammy, this time in the Best Global Music Performance category, for the single “Bayethe,” recorded with Nomcebo Zikode and Zakes Bantwini.

Born in Johannesburg in 1961, Kellerman took up the flute at age ten and quickly emerged as one of the country’s most precocious young musicians. While studying overseas he absorbed diverse musical influences and shaped them into a distinctive improvisational approach. His first album, Colour, appeared in 2008 and featured original pieces drawn from Argentine, Irish, Spanish, and African sources, all voiced through his signature flute. Material from that debut, together with selections from the 2010 follow-up Two Voices, later surfaced on the 2012 compilation Half Moon. The same year also brought Timeless, which introduced several new compositions—among them two tributes to Nelson Mandela—plus a minimalist interpretation of the Game of Thrones theme. Kellerman’s next project, 2013’s Mzansi, contained just two tracks absent from Two Voices. Collectively these five recordings cemented his standing within the world and roots scene, yet international visibility expanded only after the arrival of the breakthrough set Samsara. Created in partnership with American-born Indian artist Ricky Kej, the album collected multiple South African Music Awards for Best Instrumental Album, Best Producer of the Year, and Best International Achievement. Kellerman followed its success with the 2015 release Love Language, itself Grammy-nominated and immediately reaching the top of the U.S. World Music chart.

In 2017 he joined the Soweto Gospel Choir for Symphonic Soweto: A Tribute to Nelson Mandela, which received the South African Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album the subsequent year. The following year Kellerman collaborated with the Ndlovu Youth Choir on a version of Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” that spread rapidly across social platforms and earned a Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Independent Music Video; the recording later appeared on In a Different Light, issued in 2019 as the flutist’s eighth album.

Entering the new decade, Kellerman released We’ve Known All Times before issuing Pangaea, a joint effort with David Arkenstone that earned a nomination for Best New Age Album at the 64th Grammy Awards. It was not until 2022, however, that he claimed another Grammy, again for Best Global Music Performance, with “Bayethe,” which again featured Nomcebo Zikode and Zakes Bantwini.