Daniel Catan's sad death – the official statement

This just in from G. Schirmer, his publisher:

Composer Daniel Catán dies. 

Acclaimed and beloved composer
Daniel Catán passed away suddenly on
Saturday April 9 at the age of 62. He was in Austin, TX at the time where he was
teaching for a semester at the Butler School of Music, University of Texas.
Cause of death is still to be determined.

Catán
is known best for his lyrical romantic
style and especially his operas, the most recent of which, Il Postino premiered with great success at
Los Angeles Opera in September 2010, starring Placido Domingo. His second opera
Florencia en el Amazonas was frequently performed and garnered great
acclaim when it premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 1996.  Florencia en
el Amazonas has the distinction of being the first opera in Spanish
commissioned by a major American company. The success of that opera led to the
commission of Salsipuedes for Houston
Grand Opera. Catán had recently created a new chamber version of his first opera
La Hija de Rappaccini and was currently at work on his fifth
opera Meet John Doe which was due to premiere in October
2012.

Born
in Mexico, and later an American citizen, Catán studied philosophy at the
University of Sussex in England before enrolling in Princeton as a PhD student
in composition. Following his
studies he served as music administrator at Mexico City’s Palace of Fine Arts
(1983-89).

Catán’s death is a
great loss to the music world and to the many friends and fans who knew him to
be a very talented, kind, erudite and generous person. He lived in Pasadena,
California and was on the faculty of College of the Canyons. He is survived by
his wife Andrea Puente, three children Chloe, Tom, and Alan, and four
grandchildren.