MEET KELLY
As a composer/performer, Kelly finds herself most at home in music written by living composers, where genres are fluid and musicians are challenged to bring unique and personal contributions to the performance. As a bandleader, Kelly released two albums of original music: From the Shelf (CD Baby, 2006) and dear and bare (Phonector, 2008). Her piece, the (un)raveling can be found on Music in Circles.
She is the flutist and founder of Hear Now Berlin, a virtuosic, international sextet at the cutting-edge of the contemporary classical scene in Europe. Hear Now Berlin released their critically acclaimed debut album in 2023, Music in Circles (Backlash Music). The Guardian described the album as “an intriguing gem…from punchy and energetic…to shadowy sounds of the night… this is one of the most interesting chamber music albums I’ve heard recently.”
Kelly has had the privilege of recording numerous film scores with the esteemed studio orchestra Deutsche Filmorchester Babelsberg and has been fortunate to perform and record with musicians from a diverse range of genres, including Becca Stevens, Jacob Collier, Kurt Elling, Barry Manilow, Greg Osby, and Reggie Workman.
Kelly Watson Woelffer studied with Jim Walker at the University of Southern California and Göran Marcusson in Stockholm. Following a need to broaden her musicianship and artistry, Kelly attended the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in NYC, where she studied composition and improvisation with Greg Osby.
A devoted and passionate teacher, Kelly maintains a thriving private studio. Kelly has extensive Suzuki teacher training from both the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the European Suzuki Association and has been a guest teacher at the Colorado Suzuki Institute and the Boston Suzuki Flute Institute.