catán died aged 62 on april 8, 2011, in austin, texas, a few days after he attended rehearsals for "il postino" at the moores opera center at the university of houston. at the time of his death, catán was a member of the faculty at college of the canyons and had been commissioned by the sarah and ernest butler school of music at the university of texas at austin to write a new opera, "meet john doe."