Joe Belmont signed his first record contract at the age of seventeen.  He has been performing professionally for over twenty years. Originally self-taught, he later studied classical guitar and eventuall0y received a degree in music theory and composition at the City College of New York.  Joe has extensive performance and recording experience in a wide variety of styles with many musical ensembles.  He has released two recordings of his own music and has produced and performed on recordings for other musicians, including performances on film sound tracks.  He serves as an adjunct faculty member of the music departments at Amherst College, Dartmouth College, and the University of  Massachusettes at Amherst.  He has been with Viva Quetzal since 1992 performing on classical and electric guitar, and Colombian tiple.

Roberto Clavijo was born in Chile where he's been a professional musician since the age of 18.  He was the director of a folkloric song and dance group in Chile.  He later toured much of South and Central America with the renown folkloric group Guamary, playing in folk clubs, on television and university concerts in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Curacao.  Roberto came to the United States in 1981.  He has toured Great Britain in 1992-1993, with the group Gypsy Real, playing on BBC radio in England and Wales.  As a member of Viva Quetzal since 1993 he can be heard performing on quenas, zampoñas, charango, Venezuelan cuatro, and vocals.  Roberto is also a skilled folkloric wind and stringed instrument maker.

Wes Brown (bass) has performed and toured with a wide range of musical personalities. Wes plays acoustic and electric bass, keyboard, percussion and African flute. His current interests include African-American/jazz, Afro-pop/worldbeat, reggae and traditional African styles. Wes has appeared on over two dozen records with various artists and has extensive international touring experience with such artists as Earl "Fatha" Hines and Anthony Braxton.
School system where he inspires future musicians.

Jon Weeks performs on flute, saxophones, wind synth, quena, congas, and small percussion.  He has studied music at Berklee College of Music, Westfield State College and Holyoke Community College.  Jon has performed with many latin, jazz, and rock bands up and down the East Coast such as Sol Y Canto, Orquesta Unidad, Ray Gonzalez, Jose Gonzalez, The Temptations and many others.  Jon is currently teaching private lessons at Downtown Sounds (Northampton, MA) and The Northampton Community Music Center  (Northampton, MA). He is also director of instrumental ensembles at The Charlemont Academy (Charlemont, MA).   Currently he can be heard performing with Viva Quetzal, Joe Velez & Creación, Satinwood, Northside Saxophone Quartet,  Lalit and the reggae group iIdren.

Jeff Nissenbaum has been a professional drummer for over 15 years.  After studying classical violin for ten years, he began his drum studies with David Barrett.  Jeff studied with Keith Copeland and Max Roach at the UMass Jazz in July workshop.  He performed for the Lee Strasberg Creative Center in Los Angeles in 1989 and the Bright Moments Festival with the Afro-Andean band Quetzal in 1994.  In addition, he has performed for and recorded with numerous contemporary groups of varying styles, including Ben Demerath, Steel Wave, and the Muze Jazz Ensemble.

Abraham “Abe” Sanchez was born in Venezuela where started playing the cuatro, a small four string guitar, at the age of 5   He went on to learn guitar and bass before settling on the piano and keyboards in his late teens.   He played with the Orchestra Latina while he studied in the Conservatorio de Musica de Maracay.  Later he added to his knowledge of traditional Latin American music when he spent a year playing, singing, and handling the musical arrangements for the mariachi group, Aguilas de Michoacan.  Abe was also the director of Adoniram, a music school in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela.  During this time he had numerous opportunities to accompany national and international musicians touring in the area.

Abe came to the United States in 2003 where he taught Spanish and music at Grace Christian School in Bennington, VT.  He then began accompanying the Williams College Gospel Choir and is currently their regular pianist and musical arranger.  In recent years Abe has also had the opportunity to travel to Italy, Canada, Mexico, and Honduras and team up with local musicians for some concert series and music workshops.  Abe joined Viva Quetzal in 2007 where he can be found singing vocals and having a good old time behind his keyboard.