Felix Contreras
Felix Contreras is co-creator and host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.
In addition to his post behind the mic, Contreras programs music from the Latin diaspora for the acclaimed Tiny Desk concerts and hosts a weekly Instagram Live interview with a wide-ranging roster of guests.
A knowledgeable international ambassador for Latino heritage and arts, "Tio Felix '' travels extensively in search of new talent and new music and captures important legacy performers in jazz and Latin genres. Various national and international publications have quoted his expertise on the contemporary influences of Latin culture, music, and media.
His a recovering TV journalist whose first post at NPR in 2001 was as a Producer/Reporter for the NPR News Arts Desk. He is also NPR's resident Deadhead and performs around the DC area with his Latin music Beatles cover band, Los Day Trippers.
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2025 has had some stellar non-fiction. NPR staffer recommend their picks from our Books We Love list - with subjects ranging from Desi Arnaz to women and war.
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NPR Music's Felix Contreras remembers one of salsa music's architects — Eddie Palmieri — who died Wednesday at 88.
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NPR Music received a record number of entries to this year's Tiny Desk Contest: 7,500. The judges discovered so many amazing entries, and now we're sharing some of those standouts here.
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The popular Dominican merengue vocalist Rubby Pérez died after a roof collapsed at a popular nightclub on Tuesday night. Here's what the loss means to the vibrant Dominican merengue scene.
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Deyra Barrera, the mariachi voice heard on Kendrick Lamar's new album, GNX, shares the story behind their collaboration and a song that moves her.
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NPR staff recommend memoirs from our annual Books We Love list: "Bird of Four Hundred Voices," "The Backyard Bird Chronicles," "Knife," and "Here After."
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Alt.Latino brings us a new installment to their series "Songs That Move You." This week, we hear about dreams derailed when a young man must grow up fast.
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A new documentary on Apple TV+ goes backstage with The Beatles as they prepared for their first U.S. tour in 1964.
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Alt.Latino brings us a new installment to their series: Songs That Move You. This week, we hear about losing a love but gaining a culture.
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On Thursday, Miami hosted the Latin Grammy Awards. Artist Juan Luis Guerra and his band 4.40, who won for record of the year and album of the year, plus producer Edgar Barrera, gathered the most awards of the night.
