In her debut album, For the Trees to Blossom, the talent is set apart by her bright, smooth tone and her innovative delivery of original music. The record showcases 10 pieces of music composed, arranged, and produced by Rivera telling colorful stories rooted in love, loss, and the inevitability of change. The album was funded by 128 backers in a 2019 Indiegogo campaign, and features Evan Waaramaa on piano, PJ Duffy on Bass, Fabio Rojas on drums, and 20 more guest artists on a variety of instruments and roles.

Rivera's jazz training began in the artistically rich cultural hub of Berkeley, California as a teenager, where she studied with Gail Dobson and Trelawny Rose at the Berkeley Jazz School ( now known as California Jazz Conservatory ). She went on to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she explored an array of music from the Carribbean and South America, as well as the folk traditions of Spain and the Balkans. 

During her time living in New York City, Rivera revisited her love of jazz in her brief yet powerful recording, He Needs Me. The 3 track EP was recorded live with a minimalist setup at Judson Memorial Church in the west village, where she was an artist in residence from 2016 - 2017. A religious space with a history of artistic patronage and social activism was truly a fitting home for this project, whose title track "He Needs Me" was inspired by Nina Simone's rendition of the same enduring piece. The recording features Berklee alumni Christian Li on Piano & Rob Taylor on the bass and was recorded, mixed and mastered by Pran Bandi.