Daniel Catán Porteny (April 3, 1949 – April 9, 2011) was a Mexican composer, writer and professor known particularly for his operas and his contribution of the Spanish language to the international repertory. With a compositional style described as lush, romantic and lyrical, Catán's second opera, Rappaccini’s Daughter, became the first Mexican opera in the United States to be produced by a professional opera company. Upon receiving international recognition, Catán's next opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, became the first opera in Spanish to be commissioned by an opera company in the United States. Shortly after, Catán received a Plácido Domingo Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship Award for his contributions to music. In 2004, Catán's opera Salsipuedes: a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies was premiered by the Houston Grand Opera. In September 2010, his opera Il Postino was premiered by the Los Angeles Opera with Plácido Domingo singing as Pablo Neruda, a role written specifically for him. Catán died while working on his next opera, Meet John Doe. Catán's works also include vocal, chamber, orchestral and choral music as well as music for ballet, film and TV. Career Catán was born in Mexico City and studied philosophy at the University of Sussex and music at the University of Southampton. He received a Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt, James K. Randall, and Benjamin Boretz. Catán was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the United States, when San Diego Opera produced his opera Rappaccini's Daughter in March 1994. He has also composed orchestral and chamber works and film music. His style can be described as neo-impressionist. His music is richly lyrical, often painting evocative colours with the orchestral palette with soaring melodies atop. In addition to composition, Catán had a fruitful career as a writer on music and the arts, reflective of his knowledge of world literature. In 1998, Catán received the Plácido Domingo Award for his contribution to opera, and he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000. His last completed opera, Il Postino, whose premiere featured Plácido Domingo in the role of Pablo Neruda, is based on the 1983 novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta and the 1994 film Il Postino by Michael Radford; it premiered at the Los Angeles Opera in September 2010. Catán died aged 62 on April 8, 2011, in Austin, Texas, a few days after he attended rehearsals