Senior Spotlight
Though we may not have graduation this year, we by no means want our Spring 2020 seniors to feel any less celebrated! Here's a glimpse of senior, Allen Daniel Rivera's reflection on his history at SSU.
|| SENIOR SPOTLIGHT || Allen Daniel Rivera | @adrpercussion | BM Percussion Performance | American Canyon | I feel the most alive when I am on stage. I transferred into Sonoma State and have found a home at the Green Music Center. I met so many amazing individuals who inspired me every single day. I was the principal percussionist and that was a great challenge because I spent 9 years playing clarinet before focused on percussion. I also came from a marching arts background (DCI, WGI), so navigating the classical music world has been an interesting and new journey. As equipment manager, not only was it awesome to get paid for schepping instruments like I had been doing for free for years prior, I learned a lot about logistics and how things work behind the scenes. Every weekend, I travelled an hour to Concord Guitar Center to teach in my studio and my own business, ADR Percussion. Fitness routines that allowed me to endure the rigors of practicing and teaching percussion was a key focus point for me and I hope to someday blend my passion for music and kinesiology. My friends and I made such beautiful music and it is a time that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Sonoma State is a chapter of my life where I experienced tremendous growth and I am grateful for all the tools that I acquired here that will be put to good use in my career. I am proud to be a musical Seawolf.
Check out more of Allen's music on his Sound Cloud account and view more photos and videos of Allen's on our Facebook and Instagram pages @SonomaStateMusic