Kaethe Hostetter, born and raised in a musical household within a vibrant artist and musician community in Santa Cruz, California, began her musical journey at an early age. Surrounded by musicians and colorful role models, she received her first violin at three and continued formal training through high school.

At 17, she moved to Boston to further her music career, immersing herself in classical and chamber music while exploring other avenues if improvisation and experimenting with pedals and electronics in the free jazz scene. She worked with dancers, made soundtracks to film and animation,, touring with circuses . meanwhile, through music, radical politics, she was always deeply connect to the DIY scene. In Boston, she connected with avant-garde saxophonist Danny Mekonnen, which led to the formation of Debo Band, an ensemble that released three acclaimed albums and toured internationally.

After 5 years of playing Ethiopian music in US, in 2009 she went to Ethiopia, positioning herself  as a student of the indigenous music to absorb the culture and foster friendships with musicians. She spent 11 years based there, immersing in the scene of traditional musicians,  learning the language, documenting musical traditions. She dedicated herself to listening to the voice of her collaborators in a very nuanced way, and meanwhile created space for new styles of  improvisation in an otherwise deeply traditional world. She became a sought after collaborator with well known  Ethiopian artists, playing stages for 150,000 people with Teddy Afro, and working in the studio with Mahmoud Ahmed. 

After years of fruitful collaboration, jamming, and working with a wide array of musicians in remote areas, she eventually settled on a symbiotic group of top traditional musicians in the scene. Together, they honed their ensemble, QWANQWA, named after the Amharic word for language. QWANQWA performed at Addis Ababa's nightclubs, building a devoted following through their distinctive blend of traditional instruments, public domain Ethiopian melodies, and experimental bursts of expression.

In her sporadic visits to US, she maintained her place performing in the freejazz scene, working with Tomeka Reid and Fred Frith, and also continued  performing with Debo Band. Her anthropological instincts led her to start dcoumenting the traditions of her family and the extensive musical tradition of the community that she grew up in, including the Italian mandolin scene of the central coast of California.

An ongoing interest of hers in Addis was to answer the call of the eager yet isolated small community of classical string players. She became dedicated to improving opportunities for its members, and created community engagement by finding sheet music for them, hosting concerts, and dispersing teaching materials with the aim of creating  more viability in the classical musicians livelihood. Recognizing the disparity between the interest and the access, she campaigned in US to her vast classical music community in Boston and New York, and was able to individually collect over 100 violins of a variety of sizes,  transporting  them in her luggage to Ethiopia, for the use of her fellow teachesr, connecting abundance to elevate the livelihood of her colleagues.. She then worked together with Ethiopian violinists to develop a method of teaching that combines western technique and physical awareness with Ethiopian centric musical sensibilities while encouraging creativity early on. 

Ever interested in textiles as an athropoligical tool and mode of self expression, Kaethe, she established WUZZAWAZZEE, a textile and design line of clothes made in Ethiopia. This project flourished for 5 years, but due to supply chain disruption, she’s not able to continue it. 

In 2020, with borders closing due to COVID, she left Ethiopia abruptly to quarantine with my mother during the unclear times. Soon after, civil war broke out, and the deteriorating safety and human rights situation made it unihnabitable for foreigners and many Ethiopia-born citizens. 

Resettling in Brooklyn, Kaethe was ready to use her inside knowledge to magnify the voices of her bandmates who were now raising their families in a war torn state. She started teaching herself how to produce international tours, and in 2022, with some help from a MacArthur Foundation grant, QWANQWA reunited in the US for a  3 month  DIY tour. They played over 60 concerts at a vast array of venues, from storied rock clubs to prestigious institutions, with an achor date collaborated with Tomeka Reid and Here In Now for a highly anticipated performance at Hyde Park Jazz Festival. 

Recently, Kaethe has turned her creativity more inward. In her most personal and mature work to date, she is in the midst of composing a collection of musical vignettes based on her 11 years living in Ethiopia, using violin and electronics to draw on a variety of influences and impressions both musical and otherwise in my adopted hometown of Addis. She currently performs this material live in New York, and has opened for Antibalas and Bombino at Brooklyn Bowl.

Curriculum vitae 

TOURS/CONCERTS OF NOTE:

Solo 

Featured Performance, Chicago Jazz Strings Summit, 2020

Live Solo Show, WFMU, Transpacific Sound Paradise, 2020

Solo Experimental Performance alongside David Lynch, filmmaker, Boston, 2011

Farmers’ Market Santa Cruz, 2020-present

Globalquerque World Music Fest 2023

Residency Barbes, Brooklyn, NY 2023

QWANQWA

45 date US National tour, forthcoming 2024

20 date Europe tour, forthcoming 2024

60 date US National Tour, 2022

Italy and Switzerland Tour, August, 2019

Sardinia Tour, September, 2018

WOMEX showcase, Katowice, Poland, October, 2017

Europe: Prague, Berlin, Paris, Geneva, Copenhagen, etc. Fall, 2017

Europe: Belgium, France, Summer, 2016

Roskilde, Denmark, July, 2016

Debo Band

US Tours, including Lincoln Center, Out of Doors, Kennedy Center, Gobal Fest, Bonorroo, Bumbershoot, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Festivale

Internationale Lafayette, Calgary Folk Festival, Montreal Jazz Fest, Nuits d’Afrique, Chicago World Music, Roskilde, 2008-2019

Lamb Soundtrack

Europe tours: Slovenia, Vienna, Germany, UK, Denmark, 2017

Zanzibar, Sauti Za Busara, January 2010

Debo Band with Ayalew Mesfin

Europe Tour: Holland, October, 2019

US Tour: Denver, LA, San Francisco, January, 2018

Fred Frith’s Gravity Ensemble

Moers Festival, Germany-Nijmegen, Holland 2015

Roulette, NYC, 2014

Victoriaville, Canada, 2014

Circus/Cirkestra

Bindlestiff, A Cardboard and Duct Tape Spectacular, National Tour, 2018

Smithsonian Folk Festival, Washington DC, 2017

Gardner Museum, Boston, 2007, 2011

Circus Smirkus Tour, 2002, 2003, 2007

Bindlestiff, From the Gutter to the Glitter, National Tour, 2005

Soundtrack, Circus Dreams, 2012

many variety shows in and around New York

Classical

Free lancing around greater Boston & New York 2002-current

Grace Chorale, concert master 2019

String Orchestra of Brooklyn, principal viola 2019

Boston Philharmonic, violist, under Benjamin Zander 2002-2010

Paul Bowles & Third Man Duo

Quarantine Happy Hour Feature, 2020

Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, faculty featured concert, 2020 Concert at American Legation, Tangiers, Morocco, 2015

 Thalia Zedek & K8A

Music of Paul Bowles, NYC 2023

 J.P. Harris and the Tough Choices

Southern Tour, US 2012

Blackpot Featured Artist, Main Stage, 2012

Monk Earl

collaboration with Crystal Camino, 2021

WORKSHOPS/MASTERCLASSES/PANELS

World Music Institute: Music of Ethiopia Inside and Out, 2021

String Panels and World Music Violin Panels: Milwaukee, Keene State, Old Towne School of Folk Music, Lowell Folk Fest, Montana folk Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival Quebec City—workshops/panels, 2013-present

Manhattan String Quartet: Bartok in Budapest, Smetana in Prague, Haydn in Vienna, coach, 2005, 2015, 2018

Guest Masterclasses at Berklee College of Music, 2006, 2011, 2014

TEACHING

Saint Ann’s School—chamber music coach, violin & viola, group & individual classses, Brooklyn, 2023-present

Introduction to Ethiopian Music at Labyrinth, San Francisco, 2020-Present

Private teaching violin/viola beginning to intermediate, group and one on one, all ages, 2006-Present

Santa Cruz Youth Chamber Strings, 2020-Present

DISCOGRAPHY

Solo Album, forthcoming, 2024

Untitled duo album with Maxwell Poulos, forthcoming, 2024

QWANQWA Vol 3, WUZZAWAZZEE INDUSTRIES, 2020

QWANQWA, Vol 2, FPE Records, 2017

QWANQWA, Vol 1, FPE Records, 2014

Debo Band, Ere Gobez  (FPE Records, 2016)

Debo Band, Debo Band  (Sub Pop/Next Ambiance 2012)

Lawnmower, with Jim Hobbs, Independently released ,2014

Cirkestra, Gutter to the Glitter, Independently released, 2005

Quarantunes with Dan Moon, Independently released, 2021

Cirkestra Alice, Independently released, 2003

Cirkestra 107, Independently released, 2018

GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS/PARTNERSHIPS

MacArthur Foundation beneficiary, 2019

OneBeat, Fellow, 2015

Zoomix, artist partner (Debo Band),2014

Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Grant recipient, 2009, 2010

Indexical, Artist in Residence, Santa Cruz, 2022

PRESS

SOLO

GoodTimes Santa Cruz, featured article, 2021

Strings Magazine feature, featured article, 2020

Linkup Addis, featured article, 2020                          

Sundance 2021 Composer Spotlight: Kaethe Hostetter, 2021

QWANQWA

QWANQWA review in the Wire, US/International, 2020

QWANQWA press in Songlines, UK/International, 2020

QWANQWA featured on TV Show Musicology, Addis Ababa, 2019

GUEST APPEARANCES/SHARED STAGES WITH

Featured soloist with Teddy Afro, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2017, 2019

Natalie Merchant, recording lullaby, 2018,

MadLib, US Tour, 2018

The Family Stone, Lincoln Center, NYC, 2013

Collaboration Tour with Fendika, US, 2011, 2015, 2016

Gogol Bordello three days New Years Eve at Terminal 5, NYC, 2017

Devil Music Tour, Europe, 2007

OTHER

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

Tour manager and advance, Spring 2023, Winter 2024

Meridian Brothers

Booking agent, with Barbes booking, 2023

Nile Project

Coordinator of concert, visas for 10 people, sponsorship, hospitality, workshops, press, ticket sales, Addis Ababa, 2015

Opera Frontier

Opera Frontier, coordinator and arranger of soundtrack, San Francisco/Addis Ababa, 2017

Research

History, uses, techniques of the Ethiopian Masinko, 2009-Present

Anthropological textile research of regional Ethiopian traditions, 2012-present

Italian Mandolin tradition in the Bay Area 2018-present

WUZZAWAZZEE Apparel (2016-Present)

Brand developer, lead sewer, designer

String School in Addis (2013-2016)

Ran a campaign to collect resources and student violins

Arranged for 40+ instruments to be transported to Addis Ababa

Created Western/Ethiopian curriculum

Organized Ethiopian teachers in Addis, and trained them

QWANQWA Band Leader (2012-Present)

Booking and networking

Organizing all tech and all travel arrangements

Tour managing

Visa processes for all musicians 60 concert 3 month tour

New Orleans Vinyl Club feature for QWANQWA

Languages

English- native proficiency

French- working proficiency

Amharic- working proficiency

Living and working 11 years  in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2009 -2019

Volunteer forest fires fighter in Santa Cruz Mountains with Bald Mountain Brigade, 2020

EDUCATION

Studied at Longy School of Music, 2001-2003

Studied at Boston Conservatory, 2004-2005

Studied privately with Patricia MaCarty, Scott Woolweaver, Michelle LaCourse 2001-2015