Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sandra studied Afro-Cuban and Latin percussion at AMLA school of Latin Music and has a bachelors degree in Computer Science from Temple University, Philadelphia. She traveled to Cuba to study percussion, singing and dance in 1997. She studied electronic music synthesis with Dr. Maurice Wright at Temple University and has attended the electronic music composition seminar at the Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique (IRCAM) in Paris with Jonathan Harvey and Girard Grissé . She has performed in Philadelphia and Innsbruck, Austria with classical and popular musicians and as a member of the ensemble "Los Rumberos de la Cinco", performed with Larry Harlow and Sonny Fortune in the annual Tribute to John Coltrane.