Mr. Ledesma began music studies and piano at an early age from his father (a tenor and singing professor at the Cali Conservatory of Music). He attended the Conservatory of Music in Cali from 1962-72 and began composing at age ten. From 1978-84, he also studied civil engineering at the University of St. Thomas, Bogotá. From 1985-87 he studied composition with the Latin American composer Roque Cordero and conducting with Julian Dawson at Illinois State University. From 1990-91 he studied composition with John Van der Slice and conducting with David Gray at the University of Miami. In 1992 he won a National Prize in a composition contest with Metamorfósis for string quintet in Bogotá. From 1999-2000 he attended composition contact classes with German composer Martin Christoph Redel at the Hochschule für Musik, Detmold.

His work Dux for flute and bassoon was premièred in 1990 by members of the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra. During summer 1994, he was invited as a lecturer in Word and Music, an inter-American workshop organized by the Latin American Music Center at Indiana University. There, he attended masterclasses with Mario Lavista, George Crumb and Juan Orrego-Salas.

In 1998 the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Jirí Mikula) gave the première of his symphonic work Neoclassic Visions in Olomouc, Czech Republic, during the festival for new music for orchestra organized by Vienna Modern Masters. The piece was also recorded for the CD Music from Six Continents (1998 series).

At the moment he is studying for his Master in Philosophy degree at the University of Valle in Cali, and since 1993 he has been associate professor in theory music courses at the University of Valle School of Music. He is currently at work on a large orchestral work entitled Philharmonic Contrasts (Symphony No. 2) and a string quartet for the Quatuor Danel.

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