Stefa Marin Alarcón Talks to The Cut // New York Magazine
📷 Shaniqwa Jarvis
The Artist Pushing the Boundaries of Classical Music
Meet Stefa Marin Alarcón.
By Sarah Spellings and Diana Tsui Photographs By Shaniqwa Jarvis
“At first brush, Stefa Marin Alarcón is your average super talented, bubbly artist who wears fun colorful wigs and cool outfits on Instagram. The layers and moodiness reveal themselves when you listen to her music. Alarcón is a vocalist and performer who blends choral music with art pop and neo-soul sounds. Her music is conceptual, but it’s clear when you listen that her songs are super personal as well. “In my work, I question who gets deemed ‘classical’ and who doesn’t,” Alarcón told the Cut. “I’m definitely influenced by my Eurocentric classical training, whereas I wasn’t passed down all this music that was part of my lineage so I’ve had to look for it myself.” For her video performances, she plays a character who represents her “ancestors, myself, and the generations that will come after me.” We spoke with her about meditation as a superpower, vulnerability, and arepas.
What is your most used emoji? The alien.
If you could spend three months anywhere, where would it be? Where the mountains meet the ocean. It would be a space where I can make as much noise as I want or be as quiet as I want.
If you had a superpower, what would it be? I feel like meditation is almost a superpower. I wish I was really good at that and able to tune out the world.
What is the best album ever made? It hasn’t been written yet, because it’s mine that will come out later.
What’s your go-to karaoke song? “Zombie” by the Cranberries.
Who is someone you think is cool? All my friends are really cool. They’re trying earnestly to be the best people they can be and hold each other up.”
