Mud gets everywhere. Rocks, big and small, rattle each bone in the body. Every turn of the formless road brings unexpected challenges, both enticing and menacing. Do we succumb to the treacherous terrain, overheated and out of gas, or do we pull ourselves out of the thick, sticky sludge with a renewed sense of who we are? At one point, the laser-focus attention spent dodging deep potholes sprinkled on the narrow trail is interrupted by the glimpse of an idyllic vista that peeks through thick bushes. Could this be our destination? In that instance, we are simultaneously in heedful and blissful modes, slipping a rusty clutch while pondering our place in the universe.
A magical experience for an MSU composer
When composer Ricardo Lorenz began work on a new piece of music in 2021, he was facing a deadline for a commission and unsure at first what his work would become. To his great delight, it became an exciting story bookended by inspiration from and memories of childhood.
For Lorenz, Professor of Composition and chair of the Composition Area at Michigan State University, this wasn’t just some ordinary commission he took on, nor was the premiere less than a year later an ordinary premiere. This was a work commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Gustavo Dudamel, premiering at Disney Hall in California. One of the top orchestras in the world, led by one of the most famous conductors in the world, and performed at one of the premier performance halls in the world. The pressure was on.
