Guava Tree Music is a multi-service music agency dedicated to global booking of emerging and independent talent, producing events and providing consulting services.
Our artists are innovators in their craft and dedicated to creating social impact visible in their lyrics, through live performances, workshops, awareness building and calls to action around pressing social issues.
Viviana Mercedes Benitez, founder and president of Guava Tree Music
A first generation New Yorker, Viviana is the daughter of Paraguayan immigrants who raised her and her four siblings in Jamaica, Queens.
Viviana got her start in event production in 2006 while working in non-profit development and advancement. Here she developed online platforms for giving, established new donor funds and organized events with exceptional musicians including Bobby Sanabria, Marika Hughes and Jason Moran, which led to her eventual transition into the music industry.
In 2010 Viviana became the dedicated manager for MAKU Soundsystem. In 2015 and over the past five years Viviana has produced weekly live events at Lincoln Center, during this time transitioning to the booking agent for MAKU and conceiving of Guava Tree Music.
Her work over the past decade within the performing arts and music industry has included managing, touring, presenting and producing. An activist and social justice advocate Viviana served on the diversity and inclusion group at Lincoln Center, is a member of Women of Color in the Arts and the Folk Alliance International, Board Member of Flushing Town Hall, grant advisor having served as a judge on granting panels, with National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
Viviana’s consulting focuses on advocacy and support for emerging artists, independent artists, immigrant artists and artists of color.
Guava Tree Music Artists
