Almaris Vazquez Rivera

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Almaris Vazquez Rivera was appointed assistant principal trombone with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in 2024. She earned her BM degree from the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory in 2024 and has studied with Ramon Serra, Antonio Salcedo, Luis Fred and Miguel Rivera. Almaris has performed with various ensembles such as the Puerto Rico Philharmonic Orchestra, Borinquen Brass, the International Women’s Trombone Choir and was faculty for the Puerto Rico Symphony educational program, “Conoce tu Orquesta” Brass Quintet from 2021-2023. Almaris has attended various festivals and workshops such as the Mulcahy Seminar, Pokorny Seminar, Cincinnatti Symphony Orchestra Brass Institute, International Trombone Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, FOOSA Festival and Luzerne Music Center. She has performed in masterclasses conducted by Sasha Romero, Mark Fisher, Cristian Ganicenco, Joseph Rodriguez, Peter Ellefson, Michael Zion, Alejandro Carballo and Joseph Alessi. She started playing trombone at 11 years old in her school band from her hometown, Cidra and later became a student at the Escuela Libre de Musica Antonio Paoli in Caguas. During this time, she performed in the Puerto Rico Symphony educational program “Experiencia Sinfónica” from 2017-2019 and played as principal trombone with the Puerto Rico Youth Symphony Orchestra from 2018-2020.