(b. 14 August 1954, Cali).

Colombian composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and piano works that have been performed in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Mr. Ledesma studied music theory and piano privately with his father as a child in Cali and began composing at age ten. He studied music at the Conservatorio Antonio María Valencia of the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes in Cali from 1962–72 and civil engineering at the Universidad Santo Tomás in Bogotá from 1978–84. He then studied composition with Roque Cordero and conducting with Julian Dawson at Illinois State University in Normal from 1985–87 and composition with John Van der Slice and conducting with David Gray at the University of Miami in 1990–91. He later studied composition with Martin Christoph Redel at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in 1999–2000. He earned his master's degree in philosophy at the Universidad del Valle in Cali.

Among his honours are the Premio Nacional Colcultura in Bogotá (1992, for Metamorphosis) and Second Prize in the competition Oreste Sindici in Ceccano (2003, for Eclosión). His music has been performed in Colombia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and the USA.

He has taught music theory as an associate professor at the Universidad del Valle since 1993. He was also an invited lecturer at the workshop Word and Music at Indiana University in Bloomington in 1994.

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

ORCHESTRAL:

Philharmonia, 1985, revised 2000

Folklorerias, large orchestra, 1992

Concertant Moments, 1995, revised 2001

Neoclassic Visions, 1998

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Di Studium, string quartet, 1977

Reflections, 4 French horns, 3 B-flat trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 1991

Metamorphosis, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1992

Interlude I, violin, 1996

Eclosión, guitar, 1998

Canticum di Regina, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 2002

Preludios del Juglar (5 preludes), guitar, 2006

Interlude II, clarinet, 2008

Saltika di Kaila, 4 percussion, 2009

CHORAL:

Three Psalms (texts from Psalm 100, Psalm 23 [Spanish translations]), mixed chorus, 1989–2009

VOCAL:

Songs of the Awakening (song-cycle, text by the composer), soprano, piano, 1994

PIANO:

Five Impressions, 1989

Rhythmic Changes, 2000

Small Parnassus (7 simple pieces), 2008

DISCOGRAPHY

Neoclassic Visions. Jiří Mikula/Moravská filharmonie Olomouc (Vienna Modern Masters: VMM 3045, 1998)

Preludios del Juglar. Gustavo Niño, guitar (Facetas, 2007)

Eclosión. Javier Mauricio Cruz, guitar (Bèrben, 2008)

Interlude I; Interlude II; Five Impressions; Small Parnassus; Saltika di Kaila. Jorge Mario Uribe, clarinet; Tamaki Kanaseki, violin; Rodolfo Ledesma, piano; Ensamble de Percusiones del Conservatorio Antonio María Valencia (Universidad del Valle, 2010)