Hispanic and Latin American composers for kids: ten to know

These ten composers come from Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina. Each one put the dances and songs of home into music for the concert hall. Each has one piece here that a child can enjoy on the first try.

In the United States, Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. The list works in any month.

Ten composers

1. Isaac Albéniz (1860 to 1909), Spain. He was a pianist who played in public as a small child. His piano pieces paint the regions of Spain. Play first: “Asturias.” Guitarists play it so often that many people think it was written for guitar. Listen for: one note that repeats like a plucked string.

2. Manuel de Falla (1876 to 1946), Spain. He wrote ballets full of the sound of the south of Spain. Play first: “Ritual Fire Dance,” which lasts about four minutes. Listen for: the trill that flickers like a flame at the start.

3. Joaquín Rodrigo (1901 to 1999), Spain. He lost his sight as a small child and wrote his music in Braille. Play first: the slow movement of the Concierto de Aranjuez, for guitar and orchestra. Listen for: the English horn that sings the tune before the guitar does. Read deaf and blind composers.

4. Teresa Carreño (1853 to 1917), Venezuela. She was a pianist so powerful that people called her the Valkyrie of the Piano. When she was about ten, she played for President Abraham Lincoln at the White House. Play first: her waltz “Mi Teresita,” which she wrote for her daughter. Listen for: the lilt of three beats in a bar.

5. Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 to 1959), Brazil. He played the cello and the guitar, and he wrote more than 2,000 pieces. He loved Bach and the music of Brazil, and he mixed the two. Play first: “The Little Train of the Caipira.” Listen for: the train as it starts, speeds up, and hisses to a stop.

6. Silvestre Revueltas (1899 to 1940), Mexico. He was a violinist and conductor who wrote bold, rhythmic music. Play first: “Sensemayá.” Listen for: the tuba and the drums that keep an uneven beat of seven.

7. Alberto Ginastera (1916 to 1983), Argentina. He studied with Aaron Copland and became one of the best-known composers of Argentina. Play first: “Malambo” from the ballet Estancia. A malambo is a contest dance of the gauchos, the cowboys of Argentina. Listen for: the pounding rhythm that never lets up.

8. Astor Piazzolla (1921 to 1992), Argentina. He was Ginastera’s student. He played the bandoneon, a kind of button accordion, and he mixed the tango with jazz and classical music to make a new kind of tango. Play first: “Libertango.” Listen for: the sharp, snapping rhythm.

9. Arturo Márquez (born 1950), Mexico. His father was a mariachi musician. In the early 1990s he fell in love with the danzón, a dance he heard in the dance halls of Mexico City. Play first: Danzón No. 2, from 1994. Listen for: the clarinet that starts the slow tune alone, and the moment the whole orchestra takes off.

10. Tania León (born 1943), Cuba and the United States. She was born in Havana and moved to New York in 1967. She was the first music director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and she received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2022. Play first: a short orchestral piece such as “Batá.” Listen for: drum rhythms from Cuba inside the orchestra.

More names to hear

• Enrique Granados, Spain: Spanish Dance No. 5
• José Pablo Moncayo, Mexico: “Huapango,” from 1941
• Ernesto Lecuona, Cuba: “Malagueña”
• Gabriela Ortiz, Mexico: a living composer whose music orchestras now play around the world

Dances to know

Dance	Where it comes from	Hear it in
Tango	Argentina	Piazzolla, “Libertango”
Malambo	Argentina	Ginastera, “Malambo”
Danzón	Cuba, then Mexico	Márquez, Danzón No. 2
Huapango	Mexico	Moncayo, “Huapango”
Bolero	Spain	Ravel, Boléro. Read the guide.

A youth orchestra made one piece famous

Danzón No. 2 became known around the world when the conductor Gustavo Dudamel and a youth orchestra from Venezuela played it on tour. The players were teenagers and young adults who had come up through a free music program. Read El Sistema explained.

Things to do together

• Find each country. Mark the ten composers on a map.
• Dance it. Play “Malambo” and stamp the rhythm. Play Danzón No. 2 and sway for the slow part.
• Compare a guitar and a piano. Play “Asturias” both ways.
• Make cards. Print composer cards and add a flag to each.
• Put them in order. Place them on the composer timeline.

For more lists, read American composers for kids, Black composers for kids, and women composers for kids. All the composer pages are in classical composers for kids: a guide by era.

Sources

Checked in November 2026. These sources cover entries 4 to 10 and the dates in the others.

• KDFC. 10 composers from across Latin America we’re celebrating this month.
• CPR Classical. 18 Latin composers you should know besides Piazzolla.
• Carnegie Hall. Danzón No. 2.
• WNED Classical. Arturo Márquez.
• Pacific Symphony. Playlist: Hispanic Heritage Month.
• Levine Music. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month through musical discovery.
• KBAQ. Hispanic Heritage Month.
• KUSC. Composers we’re celebrating this month.
• Piano Inspires. 5 things to discover about Hispanic composers.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. Latin American music: the early 20th century.