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Nuevofest 2019: The Spellbinding Vocals And Harmonies Of STEFA*

This past July, the annual Nuevofest, an all-ages, day-long concert celebrating Latin American music, was held at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Presented by AfroTaino Productions in collaboration with WXPN, the concert featured eight artists with musical roots from Puerto Rico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Panama.

STEFA*, short for the artist's birth name, Stefa Marín Alarcón, is a composer and vocalist from New York whose family has roots in the Emberá, the indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. Researching her past, specifically the Emberá-Chamí tribe of her grandmother, formed the basis of STEFA*'s gorgeous and hypnotic Sepalina EP. Watch STEFA*'s spellbinding, multi-layered vocals and harmonies in her live Nuevofest performances of "Sepalina" in the video above and "Una Casita" in the video below.

Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

Bruce Warren is assistant general manager for programming of WXPN in Philadelphia. Besides serving as executive producer of World Café, Warren also contributes to Paste magazine and writes for two blogs: Some Velvet Blog and WXPN's All About The Music Blog.