Caitlin Sanchez

Caitlin Sanchez (born January 17, 1996) is an American actress, best known for being the second voice of the title character Dora in the Nickelodeon animated series for children Dora the Explorer, replacing Kathleen Herles after she went to college in 2008.

Background

Sanchez was born in Englewood, New Jersey to a musical family. She began playing the piano at age four, and while at the Yamaha Music Center, won the Yamaha Corporation's Young Composer's Award in 2004 for an original jazz composition. She has performed several times at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Victoria Theatre, and has won the prestigious Tito Puente Musical Scholarship Award twice in 2005 and 2007. She has also been a multiple-winner and presenter at the Hispanic Youth Showcase competition held in New Jersey.

An avid jazz fan, Sanchez enjoys listening to the music of John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. When NPR's Robert Siegel indicated that it was unusual for someone her age to be a fan of Thelonious Monk, Sanchez responded that "He has this really unique style. He kind of hits the piano really hard. And I love his offbeats. Sometimes he goes on-beat; sometimes he goes off. He's full of surprises."