Born in Havana, Cuba, Tania León is a highly regarded composer, conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. She won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. Other commissions include works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, NDR Symphony Orchestra, and the Grossman Ensemble at the University of Chicago. A founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, León instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series, co-founded the American Composers Orchestra’s Sonidos de las Américas Festivals, was New Music Advisor to the New York Philharmonic, and is the founder/Artistic Director of Composers Now, a presenting, commissioning, and advocacy organization for living composers. Her many honors include the New York Governor's Lifetime Achievement, awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the ASCAP Victor Herbert Award.

As León describes her aesthetic, “I am who I am, thanks to my mestizo heritage and my ancestors from China, Nigeria, France, and Spain. I’m a citizen of the world with a global consciousness, and I do not like to be categorized by race, gender, or nationality. My music is my contribution to mankind. This is my heritage and I’m proud of it.” Batá is an excellent example of her multicultural approach. Used in traditional religious activities for hundreds of years by the Yoruba people in West Africa, batá drums arrived in Cuba during the 19^th-century slave trade, when nearly 300,000 Africans came to the country against their will. The Yoruba religion became the basis for santería in Cuba. During the 20^th century, the drum gradually made its way into secular genres of music, like jazz, hip-hop, and rock. The drums also have powerful gender associations, as women were not allowed to play sacred báta until the late 1990s. In her brief yet significant composition, León uses irregular phrasing and melodic fragments to evoke a feeling of spontaneity and improvisation. Percussive elements gradually come to the forefront, building in intensity until the work finally dissolves in a single phrase for piccolo.