Rivera has become particularly known for her performances of the music of contemporary composers, such as John Adams and Osvaldo Golijov.
[2] Her Santa Fe Opera debut in 2005 was as Nuria in the revised edition of Golijov's Ainadamar.
[4] Rivera has sung the European premiere of Kitty Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic after Adams had rewritten and expanded the role from mezzo-soprano to soprano voice.
[8] She has sung several parts and roles in John Adams' works, including the soprano part in El Niño,[9] and the role of Kumudha in A Flowering Tree in the Peter Sellars production at the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna.
[10] In 2012 Rivera has sung the solo role in the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's Holy Sisters with the San Francisco Girls Chorus and the Berkeley Symphony under the baton of Edwin Outwater.