Mariana Montalvo is a Chilean singer-songwriter who burst on the international music scene in 2000 with her disc Cantos del Alma ("Songs of the Soul"), released by Putumayo. She works in the nueva canción style, which fuses traditional instruments, folkloric song forms and Chilean poetry.

Like many Chileans, Montalvo was forced into exile in 1974 after the military coup in her home country. In exile in France Montalvo has maintained her conection with Chile through her music and has been exposed to new styles. She continues to live in Paris today.

She has toured world-wide in support of her 2004 offering Piel de Aceituna ("Olive Skinned") released by World Village, and of her other Putumayo projects. Despite this, she is still less known than she probably deserves to be.

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