About Us
Nazca is a local group from Northern Virginia that performs Afro-Peruvian music (Landó and Festejo), Valses (waltzes), Marinera Norteña, Marinera Limeña, and Tondero, incorporating a dance show into every presentation, to make it more diverse and interesting. Nazca performs music by Chabuca Granda, Pepe Vásquez, César Miró, Mario Cavagnaro, Carlos Rincón Ruíz, Victoria & Nicomedes Santacruz, and Augusto Polo Campos among other known Peruvian composers.
Francisco Vega
Francisco is the director, lead vocalist and bass player of the group.
In the mid 80’s he played lead guitar for Caoba, a local latin-jazz group that performed at Georgetown’s The Saloun in Washington, DC. In the 90’s after playing blues, rock and latin jazz, he picked up the bass, went back to his roots and played for “Estampa Criolla,” a Peruvian group where his mother Graciela Vega was the lead singer, and Miguel Chacaltana was the guitarist and arranger.
In 2008, he formed “Encuentros,” a Peruvian-music group in Tampa, Florida. Shortly thereafter, he met guitarist Tito Dorante and began a musical project with local musicians and named it “LunAzul,” performing non-traditional arrangements of Peruvian music, incorporating fusion and Afro-Peruvian rhythms (Landó and Festejo).
In August of 2016, the group changed its name to “Nazca,” and has added more traditional songs to their repertoire.
Francisco is the producer and arranger for Nazca’s second CD titled “Desde que te vi” scheduled to be released in the summer of 2022.
Pepe Sevilla
Pepe is an experienced musician from the city of Rimac located in Lima, Peru, where he played for “Orquesta Espectáculo de la Guardia Republicana del Perú,” shortly thereafter he became the director of salsa band “La Nueva Dimensión” where he opened for internationally-known “Grupo Niche” from Colombia, in a concert organized and sponsored by Backus & Johnston.
In 1999, he decided to emigrate to the U.S. with a professional musician contract to play for Miguel Chacaltana’s “Amanecer Criollo,” he did that for several years, then he started playing at Havana Village with a local group “Ritmo y Sabor” in the Adams Morgan area in Washington, DC.
He is a versatile musician who also played Latin Jazz with “Quimbao” at one of Washington DC’s Latin Festival.
Pepe is a well-traveled musician, he went on tour to Lisboa in Portugal with “Grupo Tentación.” He also played in Argentina with “Orquesta Cadencia” and in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, he went on tour to Manaus, Brazil to play Latin music and Salsa at “La Rua Festival,” an annual event sponsored by Diniz Records.
Tito Dorante
Tito is a talented and experienced guitar player, arranger and composer. He graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Venezuela, majoring in music theory and contemporary harmony.
After performing flamenco shows in Margarita Island in his home country, he decide to come to the U.S. and ever since his arrival, he dedicates all of his time to music and has a passion for playing flamenco, jazz, rock, Brazilian and Peruvian music. He has performed and recorded in many venues in Venezuela and in the U.S., and does most of the musical arrangements for Nazca. He also teaches basic, intermediate and advanced guitar lessons.
As a professional studio musician, he offers recording services along with Francisco, where they both collaborate and help out local musicians interested in promoting their music. the recording services include musical arrangements and an array of instruments and vocals to accommodate the client’s musical needs.
Nazca’s first CD was released in June of 2017 and their second CD is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2022.
