Luis Abraham Delgadillo was born on August 26, 1887, in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, where he was first educated. He then studied music at the Milan Conservatory in Italy at the initiative of the Nicaraguan government, for five years. Upon his return to Nicaragua, Delgadillo took conductorship of the Banda de los Supremos Poderes (Band of the Supremos Poderes). He was also made the first director-general of musical culturethe position having been created specifically for him. From 1921 to 1925 he lived in Mexico City where he taught music theory at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música. Delgadillo conducted at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1930. He was in New York when the 1931 Nicaragua earthquake occurred, composing "Romance Oriental" (Eastern Romance) in response. He taught composition in Panama City for two years beginning in 1943, simultaneously editing the journal "Armonía". Delgadillo founded Nicaragua's National School of Music and a symphony orchestra. He directed both of these organizations beginning in 1950.