Betto Arcos

Radio journalist, writer, curator and music promoter based in Los Angeles. Betto is a regular contributor to NPR and BBC Radio 3, with a focus on stories about music from all over Latin America and the world. Since 2018, he's the Latin music curator at the San Jose Jazz Festival and a founding member of REDPEM - Red de Periodistas Musicales de Iberoamérica (Ibero-Latin American music journalists network)

In addition to his work in public radio, Betto has taught arts & culture and broadcast journalism at Loyola Marymount University. He developed a musical component for two different courses at Harvard University’s Divinity School, “Religion in the Latin American Imagination” (2002, 2011, 2015) and “Latinos Remaking America” (2014, 2016). Since 2014, Betto is a guest speaker at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute, lecturing on Latin American Music to career diplomats. Starting in 2014, Betto has been traveling extensively in Latin America, offering workshops on music journalism and the music industry at major international festivals, including: Asunción Jazz Fest, Ecuador Jazz Fest, Panama Jazz Fest, Colombia al Parque, Bogotá Music Market, AM-PM in Havana. From 1997-2015, Betto created produced and hosted the daily music program “Global Village” on Pacifica Radio’s 90.7 FM-KPFK in Los Angeles.

In 1993, Betto received his Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism with honors from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Betto is a native of Xalapa, capital of the state of Veracruz, Mexico.