The illustrious Puerto Rican singer, actress, and dancer Rita Moreno once said, “It is through art that we will prevail and we will endure. It lives on after us and defines us as people.”

As an organization at the intersection of the arts and social impact, the Levitt Foundation deeply identifies with Moreno’s words—especially today, as we join communities across the country in celebrating Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month.

Each year, September 15 to October 15 marks the nationally recognized commemoration that honors the histories, cultures, and achievements of the Hispanic community, which has shaped both American and world history.

This year’s official theme, as designated annually by the National Council of Hispanic Employment Program Managers, is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together”: a motif that speaks to how the Hispanic community has greatly contributed to positive social change across the Americas. Notably, many influential Latinos throughout contemporary history have used art, specifically, as a vehicle for social progress—including Rita Moreno, the third person to become an EGOT and whose work often dealt with important social themes.

Throughout the year, Levitt lawns across the country feature numerous Latino artists hailing from both sides of the equator, who bring multicultural neighborhoods together through music. Many of these performers are also using their artistry to advocate for issues they hold close to their hearts. Keep reading to get to know three Latinx artists whose joyous performances share enduring stories of heritage, hope, and connection all year long.

Afro-Andean Funk

Araceli Poma and Matt Geraghty of Afro-Andean Funk. Photo: Afro-Andean Funk / Bill Wadman.

The 2024 Levitt season saw Latin GRAMMY-nominated Peruvian-American band Afro-Andean Funk infusing dynamic rhythms and social justice storytelling into diverse communities coast to coast.

In June, Maryland’s Levitt AMP Cumberland Music Series kicked off its summer season with an energetic performance from the New York-based duo, and in July, residents of all ages and cultures relished Afro-Andean Funk’s musical melting pot at the Levitt AMP Gallup Music Series under the New Mexico sun.

Led by Peruvian singer Araceli Poma and American bassist and producer Matt Geraghty, Afro-Andean Funk crafts the music their name suggests—fusing traditional Andean song and Afro-Peruvian sensibilities with funk, rock, and global grooves, including those of West Africa.

Included within the band’s irresistibly danceable vibes are messages of perseverance and unity, collectively embodied on their two albums: 2022’s The Sacred Leaf (which earned a Best Alternative Music Album nomination at the 23rd Latin GRAMMYs) and Flower on Fire (released in 2023). On both critically acclaimed projects, Afro-Andean Funk explores social adversity and justice, Andean shamanism, and diverse cultural traditions.

Flower on Fire features Poma singing in the South American native languages of Quechua, originating in central Peru’s Indigenous communities, and Kukama, which is native to Peru, Brazil, Columbia, and Venezuela. Afro-Andean Funk performed songs off this album at both Levitt AMP Cumberland and Gallup, where the audiences blissfully turned their respective Levitt lawns into energetic dance floors during the Latin act’s concert. Through their platform, this band is bringing visibility and vitality to endangered Indigenous languages, ensuring they live on for future generations.

Larry & Joe

Larry & Joe by Samantha Everette.

The unifying power of music has no borders: just ask anyone who’s had the opportunity to experience Latin folk act Larry & Joe perform on stages throughout the Levitt network.

This year, the band—comprising Venezuelan educator and multi-instrumentalist Larry Bellorín and Joe Troop, a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and old-time musician from North Carolina—inspired audiences of all ages and backgrounds at Levitt AMP Utica in July and Levitt AMP Waco and Levitt AMP Fort Smith in September (the twosome also performed at the 2024 Levitt National Convening).

The music they create is characterized by a unique blend of their Venezuelan and American cultural inheritances and traditions, and it is also a vehicle for spreading stories about the role of music in social movements.

Hailing from the northern Venezuelan state of Monagas, Larry was a child prodigy. Raised by his farmworker mother, the musician began working at age 6 as a singing shoe shiner; his voice soon caught the ear of a local music teacher who invited Larry to study at the best music school in his home city of Punta de Mata.

By 13, he was a maestro of valse, pasaje, joropo, and música oriental—the folk music styles of his region. Artistic success followed Larry into his adulthood, where he honed his craft as a harpist specializing in música llanera (rhythmic folk music central to Colombian and Venezuelan culture); it was during this time that the once-student became a teacher himself, opening a llanera music school with his wife.

However, when Venezuela faced a political crisis in the early 2010s, threatening both Larry’s family and community, he left for the U.S. in search of asylum. He landed in North Carolina, taking on manual labor jobs to support his family, who soon emigrated to America following Larry.

Through adversity, Larry maintained hope. From it blossomed an unexpected relationship with Joe Troop—who found himself back in his home state of North Carolina during the pandemic and whose many years living in South America led him to work with asylum-seeking migrants.

Today, Larry and Joe exhibit so much artistic chemistry onstage that you’d think the two were brothers in another life—a destiny that reminds audiences of the power of music as a universal language that bridges ethnic and cultural divides. Performing en ingles y español, Larry & Joe fuses the roots sounds of both Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music through the harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and, in the band’s words, “whatever else [we] decide to throw in the van.” Together, they inspire cultural understanding with every concert.

Las Guaracheras

Las Guaracheras. Photo: Las Guaracheras.

The Spanish word “guaracheras”—referring to people who play, sing, or dance in the fast-paced guaracha music style originating in Cuba—does not have a direct English translation. Yet, one doesn’t need to understand the term to be moved by the warm, festive, and up-tempo rhythms of Colombia’s all-women Las Guaracheras, whose name pays homage to the genre now associated with salsa.

Formed in Cali, a populous cultural hub in Southwest Colombia, the members of the group—vocalist Diana Sánchez, bassist Daniela Vergara, pianist Elizabeth Hermann, vibraphonist Kate Ortega, and percussionists Gina Botía (on timpani) and Laura Linares (on conga)—came together to make fiery music starting in 2017.

The performers have hypnotized audiences ever since with their stylish harmonics at engagements around the globe, from festivals in Mexico and their home country of Colombia to performances in the United Kingdom and Canada. The salsa sextet also recently performed in September at Levitt Shell Sioux Falls, where South Dakota residents of diverse backgrounds sang and danced to the band’s infectious live repertoire.

As these powerful women pioneer and move the iconic salsa genre forward, they’re underscoring the power of music to create change as well. Throughout history, men have dominated the development of Afro-Latin music, leaving little room for women’s lyrical narratives and rhythms. Driven by a cultural and artistic objective to empower female voices within the Afro-Latin music space from which salsa is rooted, the Latina ensemble is on a mission to break stereotypes and build a more inclusive, diverse, and respectful creative community.

Sharing messages of joy, nostalgia, and transformation through explosive performances that beckon audiences of all walks of life to come together to dance, sing, and reflect, Las Guaracheras represent, in the group’s own words, “strength, unity, love, sisterhood, and music.”

To that—and to all the Latinx and Hispanic artists who perform on Levitt lawns nationwide and throughout the year—we enthusiastically say: ¡Dale!

The Levitt Foundation is proud to foster joy and positive social change in partnership with award-winning musical artists. Learn more about our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion here.