Ricardo Lorenz traveled to South Korea on two different occasions as Composer-in-Residence. In 2013, he was the featured guest composer of that Seoul’s Pan Music Festival, the longest running contemporary music festival in South Korea. That year he attended the performance of his work Compass Points by the Seoul Modern Ensemble and offered talks on his music at the universities of Sangmyung and Gachon. The following year (2014), he was the Composer-in-Residence of the 16th Young-Nam International Contemporary Music Festival held in Daegu, serving as adjudicator of the 31st Young-Nam Composition Competition along with colleagues from South Korea and Japan. 

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Four years ahead of the renewed diplomatic relations between former archenemies U.S. and Cuba, Lorenz and his MSU colleague Rene Hinojosa have taken students on a study abroad program to Havana in order to experience the culture of a rapidly changing socialist nation. Initiated in May 2012 and titled Culture and Sustainable Development, this program studies Cuba’s dramatic history, diverse genres of music, and its wide gamut of Afro-Cuban religions against the backdrop of this country’s long affiliation with the United States.The program draws connections between Cuban music and some of the country’s major historical events as they shine a

Continue reading…Ahead of the tide, Ricardo Lorenz bridges U.S./Cuba divide