As a guest composer of the 2nd Congress of Musical Creation hosted by the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico in San Juan, Ricardo Lorenz attended the Caribbean premiere of his work Merengue en el Espejo and delivered a two-part lecture presentation on the topic of finding appropriate spaces for optimal musical creation. The Conservatory of Music’s composition faculty Alfonso Fuentes organized the multidisciplinary event that gathered composers and performers as well as visual artists, authors, musicologists, and folklorists during the dates of February 10-13, 2011. Founded by the famous cellist Pablo Casals, the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico celebrated its fiftieth birthday in 2009 with the opening of a state-of-the-art, newly renovated 1882 building in the Miramar neighborhood of San Juan. Lorenz’s flute duet Merengue en el Espejo was performed on the Congress’s closing concert by Josue Casillas and Jonatan Figueroa,
principal and assistant principal flutists of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. Chamber works by Puerto Ricans Alfonso Fuentes and Roberto Sierra, Cuban Guido López Gavilán, and Venezuelan Efrain Amaya where also performed on the final concert. Other artists and scholars who offered lectures and presentations during the four days of the Congress were composer Efrain Amaya, dancer Awilda Sterling, musicologist Cristobal Díaz Ayala, percussionist Andrew Lázaro, sculptor Melquíadez Rosario, and Afro Cuban drummer José Ramírez.
