by Janet Dickelman
We are extremely excited and fortunate to announce that this year’s banquet speaker will be Precious Perez. She will speak with ACB about her life as a blind musician, her advocacy work, and entertain us with some of her music. Don’t miss this great opportunity; join us on Thursday, July 30.
Precious Perez was born with retinopathy of prematurity, a condition causing blindness from birth.
At the age of 6, Perez received a Barbie karaoke machine. “I would sing along to the radio in my room by myself, and I loved it. I started getting involved in school chorus and music class, and as the years went on, I got more interested in writing my own music. I wrote my first good song when I was 13, and my first terrible one when I was 10,” said Perez. “It grew into more than just a hobby; it became what I wanted to do.” In 2021, Precious graduated with a double major in music education and vocal performance from Berklee College of Music and began her pursuit of a full-time music career.
“Initially, I thought I would become a teacher and do gigs in my free time, trying to have the best of both worlds. But I quickly realized I’m not built for full-time teaching,” said Perez. “I decided to just jump into freelancing and embrace my LLC, because I was getting more opportunities on the entertainment front. That was a scary leap to take.” Since then, Perez has worked in accessibility testing, voice acted for a Paramount Plus miniseries, as well as a new Dora animated series, played in a local cover band, and written a book about her experience growing up blind. “I have so many irons in the fire, but my main passion is making Latin music. That’s what all of this has been for,” said Perez. With two new singles out since September and four more on the way, Perez’s music career and content creation are at the top of her priority list.
Perez has been working to create awareness for blindness and disability, as well as advocate for accessibility in the music industry. Working with Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (RAMPD) has been a way to keep her goals at the forefront of her work. “My whole goal is to spread love and uplift all of my communities,” said Perez. “It’s so important to use whatever influence you have to empower other people. If your work touches even one person, you’ve already done what you came to do.”
Excerpted from The Dot Experience Cast: Precious Perez. Website: https://tinyurl.com/msz34f3d
Learn more about Precious and listen to her music at www.PreciousPerezMusica.com.