Felix Contreras
Felix Contreras is co-creator and co-host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010 and a curator for the acclaimed Tiny Desk Concert series.
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. He appears regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines, All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Various national and international publications have quoted his expertise on the contemporary influences of Latin culture, music, and media.
He's 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 the other NPR Music resident Deadhead and an Afro Caribbean percussionist who performs around the DC area with various jazz and Latin jazz bands.
-
NPR's Felix Contreras explains why this summer was different than most for Grateful Dead fans around the country, and what Deadheads told him about why they got hooked on the band.
-
To devotees of the Grateful Dead, the first nine days of August are known as the "Days Between." This annual celebration commemorates the birth and death of guitarist Jerry Garcia.
-
To devotees of the Grateful Dead, the first nine days of August are known as the "Days Between." This annual celebration commemorates the birth and death of guitarist Jerry Garcia.
-
Several entries in the Latin music category were among the highlights for judges in the 2026 Tiny Desk Contest.