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I was born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba in 1989 and arrived at Miami, Florida in 1997. I started the 3^rd grade and was prompted to pick an music instrument to learn as part of my music class. I picked Classical Guitar and the rest was history.  I was taught by Mrs. Compiser; a Violinist but she taught the class very well because due to her is the reason why I can sight read so well as I can. She mandated every student to do sight-reading exercises at every class. Every year for 13 years now, I have been in a classical guitar class in school, never leaving it out of my daily routine.  

            Arriving at Miami Beach Senior High I was a small fish swimming in an ocean. Having no idea who I was going to associate with I stayed near the music buildings. It led me to Clark D. Burris who was and still is my mentor for most if not all of my high school experience and music education.  In the tenth grade I joined the Classical Guitar Quartet under his direction. The club was basically a combination of classical music emphasis/discipline and performance along with it.  We would have around 3 performances a month having a constantly growing repertoire. The best experience that I remember was being in the Classical Guitar Quartet and also joining the Miami Beach Senior High Rock Ensemble which is a “School of Rock kind of thing”, but with more of a serious factor in it. It was structured very similar to professional groups out there. Instrumentation including vocals, bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, horns, strings, sound engineers, videographer and a director. Being in that group helped tremendously with the performance factor of my music side of things.  Being part of both groups under the direction of Burris I traveled and performed in places such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, and even Japan.

 I continued and dedicated my High School attention to those two clubs all throughout and also took part in his Sound Engineering program. It led me to build a profound understanding and admiration for the technical and acoustic side of sound.  I began recording and composing music shortly after. I write a song every week ad I would record it shortly after. Repeating this process every week built a great dedication for what would become my 2^nd passion; Composition.

Ever since middle school I knew that I wanted to teach music as a career, in some way or another. Throughout high school I knew that I could achieve been a Music Teacher during day and afterwards dedicate my time to composing, recording, and producing my own works. It led me to Miami Dade College “Kendall Campus” where I did most of my Music Education and Music Business Associates Degree. I have acquired such an extensive knowledge of the Music Business that it has opened my eyes in realizing that being a performing artist isn’t where the money is.  The thing that I missed the most in college and even now at FIU is that I don’t get to perform as much as I used to.  Performing 2-4 times a month was the best thing that I could of done as a young musician in getting used to the real life of a performer. 

For 3 years now I have been giving private lessons in Classical guitar, drums, and even bass. It has led me to be the guitar teacher at River Cities Charter Schools where I’ve been for a year now. The best thing about this experience is that I’ve been applying all the concepts that I’ve been learning in my music education classes, i.e Music in Special Education, Conducting, and Intro to Music Ed. ,which I am taking now. I truly feel that I will be more than prepared to enter the real world upon completing my bachelor’s here at FIU.

I tend to continue onto my Master’s and hopefully Doctorates in Music Education in the future as my focus has changed from teaching High School to now teaching University/College level Music Education. Also, aside from teaching Music Education I will push to teach Sound Engineering (MIDI tech, Acoustics of Sound, Music Business) alongside as well. Hopefully I can accomplish everything here at FIU School Of Music.