Erica “Kika” Parra

Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, Erica “Kika” Parra is a Latin and Afro-Colombian percussionist, drummer, educator, and teaching artist. Related to Catalino Parra, one of the first members of the legendary musical dynasty Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, her connection to traditional music of Colombia’s Atlantic coast runs deep. In the 1970s, her father, Oscar Parra, was one of the pioneers of Afro-Colombian traditional music in Barranquilla, and with his guidance, she began to play percussion at the age of 13. Parra later studied with Moris Cañate, her musical mentor and Rebolu bandmate, then enrolled at the Boys & Girls Harbor Conservatory in New York, where she studied and performed with both the Colombian and Latin jazz ensembles under the direction of Pablo Mayor and Louis Bauzo, respectively. She is a graduate of Berklee College of Music with a BM in music education. Parra has since worked and collaborated with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Folklore Urbano, Gregorio Uribe Big Band, Totó la Momposina, Sonia de Los Santos, Ruben Rodriguez, Miss Yaya, Roberto Cuao, Alex Acuña, Edmar Castañeda, and C&C Music Factory. As a current drummer and percussionist, Parra has performed at festivals and events such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center Outdoors, Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, SXSW, Mundial Montréal, Carnaval de Barranquilla, the Library of Congress, the Getty Center, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, and many more. She was also one of the recording musicians for Disney’s Encanto, for which Parra won three Grammy Awards and an Oscar. She is one of the touring musicians and Music Director for the Encanto Sing-Along Film Concert. Parra La Gente is a new project co-founded by Erica “Kika” Parra and Eric Parra, which is inspired by and focused on the relationship between a musician and dancer.