Sofia Rei

[2][3] She is the co-founder of El Colectivo Sur, an arts collective based in New York City that aims to increase public awareness of South American music and assemble diverse communities.

There, her teachers included Charlie Banacos, Danilo Perez, Dominique Eade, Steve Lacy, Bob Moses and Jerry Bergonzi.

[6] [8] In 2003, while living in Boston, Rei, Roeder, and drummer "Coqui" Perez-Albela formed Avantrio to explore the music of Peruvian composers such as Chabuca Granda, Felipe Pinglo and Nicomedes Santa Cruz.

Allmusic wrote: "Koutsovitis employs a sort of South American bohemian aura, using hip cultural landmarks, feelings of love and regret, and an expanded color palette to weave some magical spells over anyone who comes close to her muse...As an individual, she's hard to compare to any predecessor, except her joy and passion could rival Flora Purim, Celia Cruz, or Abbey Lincoln."

[11][8] In a review of a live performance, the Boston Phoenix wrote: "Koutsovitis's savvy arrangements of originals and covers kept juggling instrumentation and modulated dynamics — soft, rubato introductions segueing into rollicking 6/8 dance themes.

"[12] Later in 2009, Rei contributed her vocals to Lova Zhurbin's Niña Dance, a song cycle inspired by the unsolved murders & disappearances of women and young girls in the city of Juárez, Mexico.

Co-produced by Rei, Roeder and Fab Dupont, it was recorded with electric guitars, loops and drum machines as well as Andean charangos, Paraguayan harps, Colombian marimbas from the Pacific Coast, Argentine bombos, and Peruvian cajones.

Named Best World Beat Album at the 2013 Independent Music Awards, Rei described it as a "series of ‘philosophical wanderings’ — songs that draw on a wide range of South American folkloric influences and bracingly modern sounds.

[15][citation needed] Rei is a founding member of Mycale, a New-York based international a cappella quartet with Ayelet Rose Gottlieb (Israel), Malika Zarra (Morocco) and Basya Schechter (United States).

She has recorded, performed or collaborated with artists including Frank London, the Klezmatics, Guillermo Klein, Ezequiel Viñao, the Panamerican Symphony Orchestra, Clarice Assad, Curupira, Las Añez, Celso Duarte, Lionel Loueke, John Scofield, Danilo Perez, Susana Baca, Eva Ayllon, Pavel Urkiza, Russ Ferrante, Bob Moses, Steve Lacy, Aquiles Baez, C4 Trio, Aca Seca, Pedrito Martinez and La Bomba de Tiempo.

[19] Rei is currently a Professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, where she teaches in the areas of Performance and Musicianship, while also serving as the Director of Global Studies.

She has also taught at the New England Conservatory and the New School College of Performing Arts, offering workshops internationally on vocal improvisation and styles training.

She was talking on her phone with her sister when Conan, who was looking for an address while doing a comedy bit of delivering Chinese food, saw her while she was reclining on the open window of her apartment and greeted her.