Alfareros is a Dominican Catholic music ministry formed in La Romana in 1995, and the only Dominican act to have won the Latin Grammy for Best Christian Album in Spanish, which it took in 2018 for Setenta veces siete. The group plays Catholic repertoire in tropical fusion — merengue, cumbia, Latin pop and rock — and has spent three decades carrying it across Latin America, the United States and Europe.

A Corpus Christi Mass

The group began with a small and specific ambition. A handful of young people in La Romana wanted to bring something more striking than the usual music to a Eucharist being celebrated for Corpus Christi, and put a group together for it. What was assembled for one Mass in 1995 did not disband afterwards.

The original format was choral, a large ensemble singing together, which is how the first two records were made. Over time the group reorganised around four lead voices backed by a band, the shape it still has.

The sound

Alfareros describes its own work simply: Catholic music for the praise of God, in tropical fusion rhythms. That combination is the point. Liturgical and devotional repertoire in the Spanish-speaking world has often been set to imported folk or soft-rock idioms, and what Alfareros did instead was set it to the rhythms Dominicans actually dance to — merengue above all, alongside cumbia and Latin pop.

The current lineup is led musically by Junior Cabrera, with Altermio Vargas, Fermín Amador, Mafer Wilches and Felina Tejada on lead vocals and Harry Johnson on piano. The membership has drawn from beyond the Dominican Republic over the years, including musicians from elsewhere in Latin America.

Recordings

Un Canto Nuevo appeared in 1996, followed by Hagan lo que Él les dice in 1997 — both in the original choral format — then Pa'lante in 1999, Ha llegado el día in 2004 and De Bendición en Bendición in 2008. The catalogue continued with Todo mi amor es para ti in 2011, Revival in 2014 and La chica rosa in 2017.

Setenta veces siete followed in 2018. Música para orar came in 2020, and the live album Bienvenido a casa in 2021.

The Latin Grammy

On November 15, 2018, Setenta veces siete won Best Christian Album in Spanish at the Latin Grammy Awards. It was the group's first nomination and its first win, and it put a Catholic ministry from a Dominican sugar town on a stage that Spanish-language Christian music had largely reached through its evangelical wing. Alfareros has also received a Casandra award — now the Premios Soberano — in the religious music category.

The group has performed at World Youth Day gatherings, including Sydney in 2008 and Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

Oveja de tu Prado

The 2024 album Oveja de tu Prado was recorded across five countries — the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and the United States — and assembled a session roster unusual for any Dominican release, let alone a devotional one: Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Nathan East on bass, Andrew Synowiec on guitars and Richard Bravo on percussion, with Vicky Echeverry, Quico Rizek and Agustina Baro among the additional voices. A tour under the same name followed in 2025.