Friday September 25 * doors at 7, music at 7:30 * $15-25 * TICKETS

Secret Planet presents…

K8A - Kaethe Hostetter is an American violinist whose music was shaped as much by immersion as by training. Classically trained and forged in the avant-jazz and improvisation scenes of Boston and New York, 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 through psychedelic textures, dub-inflected delay, and extended string techniques. Performed as a one-woman ensemble and often accompanied by projections drawn from Ethiopian textiles and street life, her live shows unfold slowly and hypnotically, expanding the violin into an immersive environment. The result is not fusion but transmission: music that feels ancient and futuristic at once, intimate yet vast, inviting listeners into a space of memory, movement, and altered attention.

Opening set by Andy Betezema. Andy is an Ethiopian guitarist, music producer, arranger, and mixing/mastering engineer now based in the Washington, D.C.–Northern Virginia area. A graduate of Addis Ababa’s Yared School of Music in classical trumpet and the African Jazz School as a jazz guitarist, he spent more than a decade working professionally in Ethiopia, producing, arranging, and mixing recordings for prominent Ethiopian artists. His credits include extensive work with singer Sami-Dan as well as artists such as Michael Belayneh and Haleluya Tekletsadik, and he arranged music for the Ethiopian rock group Jano Band.  Since relocating to the United States, Bete Zema has continued performing while developing his recording and production work from Alexandria, Virginia. He completed additional training in audio production and live sound at Omega Studios’ School of Applied Recording Arts and Sciences in Maryland. As a guitarist, he remains active in the region’s Ethiopian music community, including performances with Arada Band and other local artists. His music draws on his background in Ethiopian music, jazz, reggae, Afrobeat, and contemporary production.