BIo
(SHORT)
Kaethe Hostetter is violinist, bandleader, composer, and educator, whose music was shaped as much by immersion as by training. Classically trained and forged in the avant-jazz and improvisation scenes in Boston and New York, many years as a circus musician, and deep forays into a variety of folk traditions, she spent twelve years living and collaborating in Ethiopia, absorbing its melodic systems, song forms, and everyday musical life. Her debut solo album Impressions of Ethiopia transforms that experience into a solo, ritual-like performance for violin, live looping, and electronics, where Ethiopian songs are re-imagined and performed as a one-woman show and often accompanied by projections drawn from Ethiopian textiles and street life.
BIo
(LONG)
Kaethe Hostetter is a Brooklyn-based violinist, violist, composer, bandleader, educator, and multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges experimental music, folk traditions, improvisation, and immersive performance. Raised in the countercultural communities of the Santa Cruz Mountains, she moves fluidly between concert halls, underground venues, community spaces, and international stages, bringing together rigorous craft, restless curiosity, and human connection.
Under the artist name K8A, her solo album Woradj Alle: Impressions of Ethiopia for Solo Violin and Electronics (Domino Sound) distills more than a decade living, studying, performing, and collaborating with master musicians in Ethiopia. Through live looping, electronics, extended violin techniques, and composition, she transforms Ethiopian melodies into intimate, expansive soundscapes. The album marks both a reflection on eleven years immersed in Ethiopian musical life and the beginning of a broader multimedia practice incorporating visual storytelling, textiles, and archival research.
As founding violinist of the acclaimed Ethio-jazz collective Debo Band and founder of the future-roots ensemble QWANQWA, Kaethe has helped bring Ethiopian music to audiences across North America and Europe. Her performances include Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Newport Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Montréal International Jazz Festival, Nuits d’Afrique, Chicago World Music Festival, South by Southwest, Roskilde, Le Guess Who?, and the Ethiopian Music Festival in Addis Ababa. Her collaborators span musical worlds, including Teddy Afro, Mulatu Astatke, Hailu Mergia, Butch Morris, Fred Frith’s Gravity Ensemble, and David Lynch.
Kaethe’s musical language grew from a childhood immersed in craft, chamber music, and countercultural experimentation: her father was a luthier, and her mother, multi-instrumentalist Irene Herrmann, is a recognized mandolinist. After studying with private teachers and at Longy School of Music and Boston Conservatory, she developed her voice across Boston’s classical, punk, improvised, and DIY scenes. Her musical life continues to encompass unlikely intersections, from touring circus tents with accordionist Peter Bufano and the Northeastern circus community to accompanying her mother on guitar in programs of Italian immigrant mandolin music in the Bay Area.
Since relocating to New York, Kaethe has expanded her collaborative practice through projects with Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori’s Phantom Orchard, Lea Bertucci, Yacouba Sissoko, Luke Stewart, Gary Lucas, J.R. Bohannon, Shahzad Ismaily, Doyeon Kim, Laraaji, and Juma Sultan. Alongside her solo work, she performs with the folk duo The Binoculars, whose album Double Whammy (Jalopy Records) reimagines overlooked American traditional songs and instrumental folk melodies from around the world through inventive arrangements and close vocal harmonies.
A recipient of a Jerome Foundation Artist Award and a Sundance Film Festival Composer Spotlight, Kaethe has released fifteen full-length recordings. Her career is equally defined by independent production and entrepreneurial ingenuity. She has produced recordings and concerts, organized international tours, navigated complex immigration processes for multinational ensembles, managed artists, and built long-term collaborations across continents. As a booking agent, producer, and tour manager, she works independently and with the boutique world-music agency the awesome company, supporting artists including Bassekou Kouyate, Fendika, Nile Project, Ballake Sissoko, Meridian Brothers, El Khat, and Frente Cumbiero.
Education and mentorship remain central to her practice. During her years in Ethiopia, Kaethe worked with Addis Ababa’s Western string-playing community to develop a pedagogy integrating Ethiopian modal systems with Western string technique. She helped realize this vision by bringing more than sixty donated violins from her US string-playing networks to Ethiopia and leading workshops at the conservatory level. She currently directs the string program at P.S. 69 in Brooklyn.
Across her work as a performer, composer, educator, and cultural organizer, Kaethe is committed to artistic experimentation without sacrificing accessibility, and to building meaningful connections among musical traditions, communities, and audiences.
Curriculum vitae
KAETHE HOSTETTER
Violist / Violinist — Composer, Bandleader, Teacher, Agent (performs solo work as “K8A”)
351 Van Brunt St 3R, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | 929-484-5369 | kaethehostetter@gmail.com | www.kaethehostetter.com
TOURS & CONCERTS OF NOTE
Solo
Roulette Intermedium, Impressions of Ethiopia (album release), Brooklyn, NY, 2026
Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Impressions of Ethiopia (album release), Santa Cruz, CA, 2026
Tigermen Den, Impressions of Ethiopia (album release,) New Orleans, LA, 2026
Live Solo Show, WFMU, Transpacific Sound Paradise, 2020/2026
Residency, Barbès, Brooklyn, November 2025
Flushing Town Hall, Global Mashup, Queens, New York, 2024
Residency, Barbès, Brooklyn, Spring, 2023
Globalquerque World Music Fest, 2023
Featured Performance, Chicago Jazz Strings Summit, 2020
Solo Experimental Performance alongside filmmaker David Lynch, Boston, 2011
Farmers' Market Santa Cruz, 2020–present
QWANQWA
Festival Au Tour Des Chords, Saint-Louis, Senegal. 2025
45-date US National Tour, Spring 2024
20-date Europe Tour, Summer 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, Fall 2017
Europe: Belgium, France, Summer 2016
Roskilde, Denmark, July 2016
Debo Band
US Tours, including Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Kennedy Center, GlobalFest, Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Festival International de Louisiane, Calgary Folk Festival, Montreal Jazz Fest, Nuits d'Afrique, Chicago World Music Festival, Roskilde, 2008–2019, South by Southwest, Sauti za Busara (Zanzibar), and the Ethiopian Music Festival (Addis Ababa).
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, Los Angeles, San Francisco, January 2018
Fred Frith's Gravity Ensemble
Moers Festival, Germany — Nijmegen, Holland, 2015
Roulette, NYC, 2014
Victoriaville, Canada, 2014
The Binoculars
Northeast and Canada Album Release Summer Tour 2026
Fiddle Tunes, featured performer, 2026
Vermont Tour, 2025
Americana Fest, 2025
Residency at Sunny’s 2024-Present
Album Release, Francis Kite Club, LES, NY 2026
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 2000-present
Juma Sultan
Pioneer Works, 2026
O+ Festival, Kingston, NY, 2025
DJ K8A
WFMU
Barbès
PROFESSIONAL TOURING
QWANQWA — Band Leader (2012–Present)
Booking and networking for QWANQWA and other bands
Organizing all tech and travel arrangements
Tour managing
Visa processes for all musicians on 60-concert, 3-month tours
Financial, bookkeeping, accounting, and taxes for all members
Current & Recent Engagements
Eliades Ochoa, Tour Manager
QWANQWA, North American Spring Tour, 2024,
QWANQWA, North American Tour, 2022
QWANQWA, Europe Tour, Summer 2024
Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba, 2024, 2023
Thalia Zedek Band — Violinist; Driving, Tour Managing, Merch, Europe, March–April 2022 (5 weeks back to back)
Los Pirhaňas
Meridian Brothers
Thalia Zedek Band — Driving, Tour Managing, Merch, US, Fall 2022 (3 weeks back to back)
Devil Music Ensemble — Driving, Tour Managing, Merch, Europe, 2011 / 2013 / 2017
Debo Band — Tour Manager & Merch, 2014, 2018
Cirkestra — Tour Manager and Driver, 2011, 2014
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, 2004–2025
Nile Project — East Africa Organizer, 2010–2016
Juma Sultan
Agent Activities
Northeast Agent for Nepantla, World Class Live, and Awesome Company
QWANQWA's international agent for US and Europe, 2014–2025
Booking, marketing, tour managing, driving, translating (French and Amharic, both directions), merch, accounting, strategizing, routing, merch design, international taxes, international artist visas, logistics, etc.
FILM & MEDIA COMPOSING
Composert, Faya Dayi (2021)
Composer, full soundtrack, Wof Zerash Coffee (2024)
Sundance Film Festival, ASCAP Composer Spotlight, 2021
Arranger, Darkon (2006)
CLASSICAL / ORCHESTRAL & CHAMBER MUSIC
Freelancing around greater Boston & New York, 2002–current
Boston Philharmonic, Principal Viola, under Benjamin Zander, 2002–2010
String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Principal Viola, 2019
Grace Chorale, Concert Master, 2019
Manhattan String Quartet, Assistant Coach: Bartók in Budapest (2005), Verdi in Parma (2008), Smetana in Prague (2015), Haydn in Vienna (2018), Brahms in Bologna (2019)
TEACHING & WORKSHOPS
Noel Pointer, Director of String Program, Brooklyn, 2024-present
Fiddle Tunes, faculty, Port Townsend, WA, 2026
Guest Lecturer, Amherst College, Spring 2025
Guest Lecturer, New England Conservatory, Spring 2025
Saint Ann's School — Chamber Music Coach, violin & viola, group & individual classes, Brooklyn, 2023–Present
Introduction to Ethiopian Music, Labyrinth, San Francisco, 2020–Present
Private teaching, violin/viola, all levels and ages, group and individual, 2006–Present
Santa Cruz Youth Chamber Strings, 2020–Present
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, 2013–Present
Guest Masterclasses, Berklee College of Music, 2006, 2011, 2014
RESEARCH
History, uses, and techniques of the Ethiopian Masinko, independent, 2009–Present
Anthropological textile research of regional Ethiopian traditions, independent 2012–Present
Italian mandolin tradition in the Bay Area, independent, 2018–Present
DISCOGRAPHY
Woradj Alle (Impressions of Ethiopia), solo album as K8A, Domino Sound, 2026
Double Whammy, The Binoculars, Jalopy Records, 2026
Cacciatore di Tesori, WUZZAWAZZEE Industries, 2025
The Garden, WUZZAWAZZEE Industries, 2023
QWANQWA, Live, WUZZAWAZZEE Industries, 2022
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
Jerome Foundation Awarded Artist, Roulette Intermedium, 2026
MacArthur Foundation Beneficiary, 2019
OneBeat, Found Sound Nation, Dosti Fellow, 2015
Zoomix, Artist Partner (Debo Band), 2014
Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Grant Recipient, 2009, 2010
Indexical, Artist in Residence, Santa Cruz, 2022
ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES
WUZZAWAZZEE Industries, Owner/Operator, 2012-2020
Errand Boys Courier Service, Owner/Operator, 2006–2009
EDUCATION
Longy School of Music, 2001–2003
Boston Conservatory, 2004–2005
Private Study — Patricia McCarty, Scott Woolweaver, Michelle LaCourse, 2001–2015
LANGUAGE SKILLS
English (fluent, native)
French (working proficiency)
Amharic (working proficiency)