Adriana Marrero is a first-year professional program student at IMEP • Paris College of Music. Lead singer of afro-latino band Soltrón until 2017, she contributed to music video Estamos Aquí in which she sang and wrote the lyrics to her verse and chorus.

This track that celebrates afro-latino population from San Francisco Bay and conveys strong values such as diversity and inclusion is a ray of sunshine and guaranteed cheerfulness.

Adriana Marrero explains the project origins and values associated with :

A.M : I was the lead singer for this project until 2017 when I decided to focus on jazz, but have remained close with my bandmates. During the COVID crisis in 2020, a lot of artists in the Bay Area were struggling financially. The California Arts Commission opened up an application for fellowships for artists whose work addressed themes including race, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Soltron was awarded a fellowship and they used the funds to release Frisco Tales. 

I was invited to be part of Estamos Aquí; a song of appreciation for the Latino neighborhood of San Francisco which has been gentrified, causing the displacement of a large part of the community. Despite these struggles, the people in this neighborhood rallied together to help each other amidst the COVID crisis and they continue to fight for fair housing opportunities and the preservation of their culture. 

IMEP teachers helped Adriana building trust in her capacities and improving her vocal abilities

I just completed my year of préparatoire and started my first year of the Professional Cycle . Recording was something that used to seem very complicated to me. Damien Ropars did a great job of walking us through the process and keeping us motivated with our recording projects in the MAO course. I was really glad to be able to record myself with confidence! 

It was helpful to reserve one of IMEP’s awesome rehearsal boxes to prevent any background noise from bleeding into the recording. 

I also really appreciated the vocal work I did with Heather Stewart at IMEP. I feel that my voice is sounding better than ever. 

I am thankful to have been a part of a project honoring my favorite neighborhood in San Francisco and I’m glad that the song and music video have been so well-received. The Bay Area will always have a tether on my heart.

Listen to Soltrón : https://soltron.bandcamp.com/album/frisco-tales

Website : https://soltronsf.com/