Maite Hontelé en Adinda Meertin
Trumpeter Maite Hontelé and bassist Adinda Meertins launch LA NOVIA, a new international project in which contemporary Latin and pop come together in an energetic, accessible sound. Featuring a top lineup of international top musicians—including Grammy winner Rodney Barreto on drums—LA NOVIA presents a concert that invites you to listen as much as to move.
Maite Hontelé conquered the world with her Colombian salsa band and won over a large audience in the Netherlands with her performances and TV presentations. After nearly ten years in Colombia, where she recorded five albums as bandleader and collaborated with Latin greats such as Rubén Blades, Oscar D’León, and Gilberto Santa Rosa, she is now choosing a new phase. With LA NOVIA, together with co-bandleader and bassist Adinda Meertins, she defines the sound and artistic direction of a band with its own distinctive identity.
Adinda Meertins won a Latin Grammy and was nominated twice for a Grammy with Monsieur Periné. Within LA NOVIA, she is not only the bassist but is also involved in composition. Together with Maite Hontelé and pianist Francisco Rodriguez, she writes a significant part of the repertoire. The new album was completed in New York with Grammy-winning mixer and producer Fab Dupont (known for work with Bad Bunny, Snarky Puppy, and Lenny Kravitz) and marks a next step in the international development of the project.
Live, LA NOVIA brings together a top international lineup featuring drummer and three-time Grammy winner Rodney Barreto, trombonist Julián Garvayo, trumpeter Álvaro Artime, vocalist Ulrich de Jesus, vocalist and percussionist Lídia Madruga, keyboardist Francisco Rodriguez, and percussionist Giovanni Molinari. The result is a concert that is exuberant, intense, and irresistible.
Hontelé and Meertins are not only musical partners, but also live under one roof and have two young daughters together. How they combine their busy lives as musicians and parents is captured in a personal documentary that will premiere around the album release in the autumn of 2026.
