The Catalan composer Leonardo Balada studied in his native Barcelona and then with Persichetti and Copland at the Juilliard School in New York. He joined the teaching faculty at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he is now a professor of composition. In his own composition he moved from an earlier neoclassical style to a more experimental, abstract form of writing, which has been subsequently modified by the use of varied musical material of ethnic derivation.

Operas
Balada’s operas include the chamber operas Hangman! Hangman!, based on a cowboy ballad, and The Town of Greed. Other operas on a larger scale include Zapata, Cristóbal Colón and The Death of Columbus.

Orchestral Music
Balada has been a prolific composer of orchestral music, his works including concertos for violin, for cello, for piano, and for four guitars, and a Concierto mágico – a second concerto for solo guitar.