Nathan Shirley is a contemporary composer whose keyboard works often embrace a neo-Romantic aesthetic. This piece features clear thematic statements and expressive harmonic progressions.
Emphasis should be placed on creating a clear, resonant tone for the principal melody.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.3 is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 4 — meaning you can already play level 3–4 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
Ballade No.3 is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Ballade No.1 by Nathan Shirley, Ballade by Nathan Shirley, 'O sole mio by Eduardo Di Capua — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.