Perfiles Sospechosos, 2007 NFA Commission, gets a makeover
In Chicago with flutist Marissa Olin (fourth from left), Director Raphael Jiménez (center with Lorenz), and members of Michigan State's Musique 21 before the 2007 Midwest premiere of Perfiles Sospechosos. Photo by Mark Sullivan.
Minnesota native and flutist Marissa Olin will premiere a new and improved version of Ricardo Lorenz’s Perfiles Sospechosos on Sunday, April 18, at Michigan State’s Hart Recital Hall. Originally a trio for flute, cello, and percussion commissioned by the National Flute Association, Olin will premiere a quartet version of Perfiles Sospechosos that incorporates bass clarinet. “As soon as it was premiered in 2007 at the NFA New Mexico convention,” explains Lorenz, “I felt the work could greatly benefit from the addition of a low wind instrument to back up the cello and complement the flute’s high register, particularly in the last movement which calls for piccolo. Only after I made the adaptation I realized that the new version sounds –and looks– like a piece for flute and rhythm combo.” Marissa Olin attended the NFA Convention’s premiere of Perfiles Sospechosos (Spanish for “suspicious profiles”). She has performed the original trio version on several occasions and Lorenz created the new version especially for her. For this premiere, Olin will be joined by cellist Callum Hall, bass clarinetist Remi Hamel, and percussionist Ty Forquer, who also appears in the photo above (left of Olin).
En Tren Va Changó (Destination Macondo). Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra; Raphael Jiménez, conductor. Included in a CD titled “Destinations: Orchestral Works from Latin American Composers.” Navona Records, US, 2009.
After fulfilling a commission from the National Flute Association in 2007, Ricardo Lorenz was the 2008 recipient of the American Bandmasters Association/University of Florida Commission Award. The award, funded by a grant from the University of Florida band program, includes a commission honorarium to create a major artistic work for wind band. After a preview performance at the 2009 CBDNA conference, the ten-minute work, titled El Muro , is scheduled to be premiered this upcoming October 1st by the University of Florida Wind Symphony conducted by David Waybright. El Muro is Spanish for “the wall,” and Lorenz describes the work as a collection of tightly woven Latin American riffs in reaction to how he feels about walls, whether these exist in reality or in people’s minds.
Ricardo Lorenz’s first composition, written at age 12, was extremely simple. “Just two chords, jumping back and forth,” he says with a laugh. “I got such a kick out of it.” Now, after more than 25 years as a composer, Venezuelan-born Lorenz, PhD’99, not only creates large-scale works for multi-instrument groups, but he also harmonizes two musical worlds: classical and Latin American.
