Born in Mexico City, Mexico, Ignacio Baca Lobera is a composer of many trades. Initially a self-taught guitarist, Baca Lobera attended the Escuela Nacional de Música of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, and later studied with Julio Estrada and Juan Antonio Rosado. He furthered his education at the University of California, in San Diego, where he received both a Master’s of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in composition, studying under the direction of Jean-Charles François, Jõji Yuasa and Brian Ferneyhough (1985-91). 

Baca Lobera has competed in a variety of competitions and received the Irino Prize in Tokyo in 1996 as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship (2001). His compositions have been played internationally, and he has received commissions from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (1994), the Cervantino Festival (1994) and the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (1995). In 1997, he became a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA) and was the composer-in-residence of the Querétaro Philharmonic between the years of 1994 and 1995. Since 1994, he has been a professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro teaching composition, counterpoint, and ear training. As a composer for orchestra, chamber and electroacoustics, Baca Lobera’s music incorporates different contemporary techniques, including microtonalism and stochastic processes.