Composer, conductor, and cellist Leandro Espinosa was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León (Mexico) and studied composition at the Escuela Formativa por las Artes with Nicandro Tamez. He continued his studies in Mexico City with Manuel Enríquez at the CENIDIM (National Center for Musical Research, Documentation and Information). 

He continued his studies in England, where his teachers included Alfred Nieman at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as Melanie Daiken and Pawlu Grech at the Morley College. He then became a scholarship student of the Fonds Alex De Vries of Belgium located in Antwerp.  Further studies in the USA included a Masters in Orchestral Conducting at the Peabody Conservatory with Professors Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar and a Doctorate in Musical Composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City with Professors James Mobberley, Chen Yi and Paul Rudy.

He is former Music Director of the Musica Nova Ensemble at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and also former Assistant Conductor of the Peabody Camerata and the Independence Symphony.  He has been Associate Professor of Cello at the Superior School of Music and Dance of Monterrey (Mexico) and a former member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Mexico.

Dr. Espinosa is a member of the Oxford Round Table, participating during the sessions of 2006 with his work Approaching a Possible Redefinition of the Arts and Sciences presented at the Oxford Union during the summer of 2006 and published by the Forum on Public Policy Online (Winter 2007 edition).  His work Music Serialism, An Alternative Approach is published by VDM Verlag Dr. Müller (2010). 

Dr. Espinosa was recently interviewed for the Pilgrim of Music: Profiles and Stories series in Mexico, speaking about his musical background and performances (Spanish).

Mr. Espinosa was the Music Director of the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra at Eastern Oregon University from 2002 to 2015, where he served as Associate Professor of Music.

Information on his work with Oregon's Grande Ronde Symphony can be found on the GRSO Facebook page, and by searching on the GRSO La Grande Observer newspaper website.