Our
Story
was born from a deep desire to give voice to Latina women in faith communities.
We are artists, researchers, believers, and dreamers.
What unites us is the desire to serve through music, words, and truth.
Get to know the voices and hearts that bring this mission to life.
Yuriria (Yuri) Rodríguez
Lead Voice & Founder
Her voice is the heart of this project, and her path weaves together art, spirituality, and service.
Her background includes choral conducting, art, spirituality, and leadership. As the founder of "Mujeres en la Liturgia", she has created healing spaces through song and spoken word.
Today, she leads Caminemos con María as an act of love, remembrance, and faith.
The Rev. Yuriria (Yuri) Rodríguez is a Costa Rican singer, artist, and educator specializing in Latin American music and culture.
For over 20 years, Yuri has offered performances of Latin American music—both popular and classical—and has participated in and led choirs focused on sacred and Latin American repertoire in both the United States and Costa Rica.
In 2013, Rodríguez earned a Master’s in Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. As a member of "El Taller" there, she had the opportunity to share the stage with renowned guest artists and faculty from the Jacobs School, including Grammy Award winners Pablo Ziegler, Pablo Aslan, Michael Spiro, Gonzalo Grau, and Sylvia McNair.
Reviews have praised Rodríguez as a singer “with a beautiful voice that evokes a force of nature” (Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana).
For seven years, Yuri directed the Latin American Choir at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis, one of the fastest-growing ministries in the Diocese, which continues to thrive and lead Spanish-language worship at the Cathedral. She has sung both as a soloist and as part of the Schola Cantorum at the School of Theology at Sewanee, The University of the South—an experience that included a three-year residency and choral pilgrimages to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh and Westminster Abbey in London. In 2023, Yuri earned her Master of Divinity from the School of Theology at Sewanee.
Yuri is a fellow and awardee of the Episcopal Evangelism Society for her project Caminemos con María (2021), a musical celebration of the lives and stories of Latina women in our communities and faith spaces.
In 2023, with the support of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and Christ Church Cathedral, Yuri received a Constable Fund grant to expand the work of Caminemos con María. She is also a recipient of the Becoming Beloved Community Grant Initiative, through which she founded the Worship with Bravery Ensemble, a group of musicians of color who led nontraditional worship and recorded online worship videos during the pandemic.
These videos were made available to the entire Episcopal Church in 2021. Yuri is also a 2024 Trinity Wall Street Leadership Fellow. She currently serves as priest and associate rector at Church of the Nativity in Lawrence, Indianapolis.
In addition, she participates in several committees and boards in both the Indianapolis area and the wider Episcopal Church, including the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music and the Episcopal Women’s History Project, among others.
Sergio Ospina Romero
Pianist & Music Director
His work brings together history, jazz, and spirituality.
A Doctor in Musicology, he has written extensively about salsa, tango, and jazz. He leads Palonegro and La Salsoteca, contributing to the project with a musical vision that is both academic and deeply human.
Assistant Professor of Music in Musicology at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University.
He is a musician, anthropologist (B.A.), cultural historian (M.A.), and musicologist (M.A. and Ph.D.). His research and publications focus primarily on sound reproduction technologies, Latin American music, and early 20th-century jazz.
Ospina-Romero is the author of three books: Dolor que canta (ICANH, 2017), La conquista discográfica de América Latina (Gourmet Musical, 2024), and Talking Machine Empires (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2025). He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and short essays in journals, edited volumes, and blogs across the Americas. His work has appeared in publications such as Journal of the American Musicological Society, Ethnomusicology, Twentieth Century Music, Keyboard Perspectives, Latin American Music Review, Journal of Folklore Research, Musicology Now, Revista Argentina de Musicología, Resonancias, Boletín Música, Anuario Colombiano de Historia Social y de la Cultura, Maguaré, Historia y Sociedad, Goliardos, Ensayos: Historia y Teoría del Arte, and BanRep Cultural.
In 2022–23, Ospina-Romero was one of Indiana University's inaugural Presidential and Arts and Humanities Fellows. His honors and awards include the Klaus P. Wachsmann Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology, the Donald J. Grout Memorial Prize from Cornell University, a Fulbright Fellowship, and honorable mentions for the Otto Mayer Serra Prize and the Casa de las Américas Musicology Award.
He has taught at the National University of Colombia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de los Andes, and Cornell University. He is an active member of several academic associations, including the American Musicological Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Latin American Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.
Ospina-Romero is also a pianist and the director of the Latin jazz quartet Palonegro and the salsa band La Salsoteca.
Yuriria (Yuri) Rodríguez
Lead Voice & Founder
Her voice is the heart of this project, and her path weaves together art, spirituality, and service.
Her background includes choral conducting, art, spirituality, and leadership. As the founder of "Mujeres en la Liturgia", she has created healing spaces through song and spoken word.
Today, she leads Caminemos con María as an act of love, remembrance, and faith.
The Rev. Yuriria (Yuri) Rodríguez is a Costa Rican singer, artist, and educator specializing in Latin American music and culture.
For over 20 years, Yuri has offered performances of Latin American music—both popular and classical—and has participated in and led choirs focused on sacred and Latin American repertoire in both the United States and Costa Rica. In 2013, Rodríguez earned a Master’s in Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. As a member of "El Taller" there, she had the opportunity to share the stage with renowned guest artists and faculty from the Jacobs School, including Grammy Award winners Pablo Ziegler, Pablo Aslan, Michael Spiro, Gonzalo Grau, and Sylvia McNair. Reviews have praised Rodríguez as a singer “with a beautiful voice that evokes a force of nature” (Herald Times, Bloomington, Indiana).
For seven years, Yuri directed the Latin American Choir at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis, one of the fastest-growing ministries in the Diocese, which continues to thrive and lead Spanish-language worship at the Cathedral. She has sung both as a soloist and as part of the Schola Cantorum at the School of Theology at Sewanee, The University of the South—an experience that included a three-year residency and choral pilgrimages to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh and Westminster Abbey in London. In 2023, Yuri earned her Master of Divinity from the School of Theology at Sewanee.
Yuri is a fellow and awardee of the Episcopal Evangelism Society for her project Caminemos con María (2021), a musical celebration of the lives and stories of Latina women in our communities and faith spaces.
In 2023, with the support of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and Christ Church Cathedral, Yuri received a Constable Fund grant to expand the work of Caminemos con María. She is also a recipient of the Becoming Beloved Community Grant Initiative, through which she founded the Worship with Bravery Ensemble, a group of musicians of color who led nontraditional worship and recorded online worship videos during the pandemic.
These videos were made available to the entire Episcopal Church in 2021. Yuri is also a 2024 Trinity Wall Street Leadership Fellow. She currently serves as priest and associate rector at Church of the Nativity in Lawrence, Indianapolis. In addition, she participates in several committees and boards in both the Indianapolis area and the wider Episcopal Church, including the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music and the Episcopal Women’s History Project, among others.
Sergio Ospina Romero
Pianist & Music Director
His work brings together history, jazz, and spirituality.
A Doctor in Musicology, he has written extensively about salsa, tango, and jazz. He leads Palonegro and La Salsoteca, contributing to the project with a musical vision that is both academic and deeply human.
Assistant Professor of Music in Musicology at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University.
He is a musician, anthropologist (B.A.), cultural historian (M.A.), and musicologist (M.A. and Ph.D.). His research and publications focus primarily on sound reproduction technologies, Latin American music, and early 20th-century jazz.
Ospina-Romero is the author of three books: Dolor que canta (ICANH, 2017), La conquista discográfica de América Latina (Gourmet Musical, 2024), and Talking Machine Empires (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2025). He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and short essays in journals, edited volumes, and blogs across the Americas. His work has appeared in publications such as Journal of the American Musicological Society, Ethnomusicology, Twentieth Century Music, Keyboard Perspectives, Latin American Music Review, Journal of Folklore Research, Musicology Now, Revista Argentina de Musicología, Resonancias, Boletín Música, Anuario Colombiano de Historia Social y de la Cultura, Maguaré, Historia y Sociedad, Goliardos, Ensayos: Historia y Teoría del Arte, and BanRep Cultural.
In 2022–23, Ospina-Romero was one of Indiana University's inaugural Presidential and Arts and Humanities Fellows. His honors and awards include the Klaus P. Wachsmann Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology, the Donald J. Grout Memorial Prize from Cornell University, a Fulbright Fellowship, and honorable mentions for the Otto Mayer Serra Prize and the Casa de las Américas Musicology Award.
He has taught at the National University of Colombia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de los Andes, and Cornell University. He is an active member of several academic associations, including the American Musicological Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Latin American Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.
Ospina-Romero is also a pianist and the director of the Latin jazz quartet Palonegro and the salsa band La Salsoteca.
Laura Stephany Cohen
Afro-Colombian Drums & Rhythms
Percussionist from Cali who honors Afro-Colombian roots through rhythm, identity, and devotion.
Trained in the rich rhythms of Colombia’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts, she has performed with ensembles such as La Zúa and Palonegro.
Her music is drum, earth, and living ancestry.
Latina and classical percussionist from Cali, Colombia.
Her passion for music began at an early age, leading her to enroll in the after-school program at the Antonio María Valencia Conservatory in Cali. There, she sang in choirs and studied piano, classical guitar, trumpet, and percussion under the guidance of Héctor Tascón and Gustavo Jordan. Stephany earned a Technical Degree in Musical Performance with a focus on Percussion from this institution.
In 2013, Stephany enrolled at Eastern Illinois University, where she studied classical, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Brazilian percussion with Jamie Ryan. During her time at EIU, she received several scholarships and awards in both music and academics, including the Eastern Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Avedis Zildjian Percussion Arts Society Scholarship, and second place in the Sigma Alpha Iota Music Competition (St. Louis Chapter).
In 2017, she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance, graduating Summa Cum Laude with University Honors. Stephany continued her graduate studies at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she served as an Associate Instructor of Percussion. During her time there, she significantly expanded her knowledge in Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Brazilian music, studying with Michael Spiro, Wayne Wallace, Joe Galvin, and Joseph Gramley, while refining her classical technique with Kevin Bobo and John Tafoya.
As an instructor at Indiana University, Stephany taught private percussion lessons and collaborated in the instruction of Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and steelpan ensembles.
Deeply passionate about Latin music, Stephany enjoys researching, studying, and performing Afro-Colombian music from Colombia’s South Pacific region.
Raised in Cali, she has always been surrounded by Latin dance music and the traditional rhythms of her homeland. Now based in the United States, she feels a strong call to share and uplift the cultural and historical significance of these traditions. She currently performs with several Latin American ensembles, specializing in creating diverse Latin multi-percussion setups for a variety of performances.
Later this year, she will present two projects at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC):
A panel on Afro-Colombian musical traditions from the South Pacific region of Colombia, and
A showcase concert featuring a modern interpretation of marimba de chonta music alongside Professor Héctor Tascón.
Jesse Wittman
Bass and Harmonic Textures
Bassist and composer based in Indianapolis.
His music weaves together tradition, deep listening, and spiritual grounding.
He has accompanied renowned jazz artists and is a member of Palonegro.
His playing is the solid ground where the group’s music takes root and blooms.
Bassist, composer, educator, and recording artist based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He holds a degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana University, where he studied with David Baker and Bruce Bransby. He also earned a Master’s in Composition from Butler University, studying under James Aikman and Michael Shelle.
He currently teaches jazz bass at Butler University and has had the pleasure of working with renowned musicians from across the country, including Nicole Henry, Marvin Hamlisch, Steve Houghton, Ann Hampton Callaway, and trombonist Steve Davis.
Laura Stephany Cohen
Afro-Colombian Drums & Rhythms
Percussionist from Cali who honors Afro-Colombian roots through rhythm, identity, and devotion.
Trained in the rich rhythms of Colombia’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts, she has performed with ensembles such as La Zúa and Palonegro.
Her music is drum, earth, and living ancestry.
Latina and classical percussionist from Cali, Colombia.
Her passion for music began at an early age, leading her to enroll in the after-school program at the Antonio María Valencia Conservatory in Cali. There, she sang in choirs and studied piano, classical guitar, trumpet, and percussion under the guidance of Héctor Tascón and Gustavo Jordan. Stephany earned a Technical Degree in Musical Performance with a focus on Percussion from this institution.
In 2013, Stephany enrolled at Eastern Illinois University, where she studied classical, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Brazilian percussion with Jamie Ryan. During her time at EIU, she received several scholarships and awards in both music and academics, including the Eastern Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Avedis Zildjian Percussion Arts Society Scholarship, and second place in the Sigma Alpha Iota Music Competition (St. Louis Chapter).
In 2017, she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance, graduating Summa Cum Laude with University Honors. Stephany continued her graduate studies at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she served as an Associate Instructor of Percussion. During her time there, she significantly expanded her knowledge in Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Brazilian music, studying with Michael Spiro, Wayne Wallace, Joe Galvin, and Joseph Gramley, while refining her classical technique with Kevin Bobo and John Tafoya.
As an instructor at Indiana University, Stephany taught private percussion lessons and collaborated in the instruction of Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and steelpan ensembles.
Deeply passionate about Latin music, Stephany enjoys researching, studying, and performing Afro-Colombian music from Colombia’s South Pacific region.
Raised in Cali, she has always been surrounded by Latin dance music and the traditional rhythms of her homeland. Now based in the United States, she feels a strong call to share and uplift the cultural and historical significance of these traditions. She currently performs with several Latin American ensembles, specializing in creating diverse Latin multi-percussion setups for a variety of performances.
Later this year, she will present two projects at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC):
A panel on Afro-Colombian musical traditions from the South Pacific region of Colombia, and
A showcase concert featuring a modern interpretation of marimba de chonta music alongside Professor Héctor Tascón.
Jesse Wittman
Bass and Harmonic Textures
Bassist and composer based in Indianapolis.
His music weaves together tradition, deep listening, and spiritual grounding.
He has accompanied renowned jazz artists and is a member of Palonegro.
His playing is the solid ground where the group’s music takes root and blooms.
Bassist, composer, educator, and recording artist based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He holds a degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana University, where he studied with David Baker and Bruce Bransby. He also earned a Master’s in Composition from Butler University, studying under James Aikman and Michael Shelle.
He currently teaches jazz bass at Butler University and has had the pleasure of working with renowned musicians from across the country, including Nicole Henry, Marvin Hamlisch, Steve Houghton, Ann Hampton Callaway, and trombonist Steve Davis.
¿How to bring our music to your community?
01
Request availability
Tell us the date, location, and type of event. Whether it’s a retreat, a Eucharist, or a gathering, we’d love to accompany you.
02
Receive a personalized proposal
We’ll share how we can participate—live music, spiritual reflection, workshop, or concert—tailored to your space and audience.
03
Sing, celebrate, and transform with us
We join your community with all our hearts. Music becomes shared prayer, and the message turns into a living experience.
Thank you for wanting this music to sing in your community too.
We receive your message with an open heart.
All rights reserved
This curriculum, and the Caminemos con Maria Project was developed with the support of the Diocese of Indianapolis, the Constable Grant, St. Augsutine's Chapel, Sewanee-University of the South, Trinity Wallstreet Leadership Fellowship, and Episcopal Evangelization Society.
Thank you for your attention!