'A label for a lack of a label': hear now berlin's founder on playing genre-defying chamber music

hear now berlin is a chamber group that
plays works by contemporary composers. Inspired by the music she
loves playing and hearing, the sextet’s founder and flutist,
Kelly Watson Woelffer, searched for five musicians who shared her
vision: a violist from Australia, a cellist from New Zealand, and
a trumpeter, violinist and clarinetist from
Germany.


Though they are all classically trained musicians with orchestral
foundations, the six are also skilled in a wide range of other
genres, including singer-songwriter, big band, pop and jazz.


About 18 months after the group’s debut performance, we caught up
with Watson Woelffer and violist Xina Hawkins about the
challenges of holding auditions for a new group member during the
pandemic and their upcoming concert on Sept. 7 at Kulturhaus
Insel Berlin.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham