Leonardo Balada (born September 22, 1933 in Barcelona) is a Spanish composer.
He graduated from Conservatorio del Liceu in Barcelona and in 1956 emigrated to the United States, where in 1960, he graduated from the Juilliard School in New York. He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti and Aaron Copland, and studied conducting with Igor Markevitch . In 1981, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Compositions include many Chamber and Symphonic works, cantatas, numerous concerti, two Chamber operas, and three full length operas. The most well-known of these is Christopher Columbus, first staged at the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona in 1989 with José Carreras and Montserrat Caballé singing the leading roles. His works Sinfonia en Negro - Homage to Martin Luther King (1968) and Homage to Casals and Sarasate (1975) blend folk and ethnic elements with Avant-garde techniques, after which a trend has emerged. The Naxos record label has released recordings of several of his works.
Since 1970 he has been teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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