“What was a big shock was to finally come to a place where you have 2,000 of the best musicians in the world and realize you’re nobody,” Lorenz said. “You thought of yourself very highly, but you have to work very hard to make a dent.”

Since those early days of school, Lorenz has become a much sought-after composer. His reputation is what motivated Roberto Díaz, violist and president of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, to ask him to compose a viola concerto.

He will premiere the concerto with the MSU Symphony Orchestra 8 p.m. Friday in Wharton Center’s Cobb Great Hall.

“I’m very happy that we had the opportunity to get the project off the ground,” Díaz said. “I find his music very appealing, intriguing, exciting and inspired.”

Lorenz said Victor Jara, a Chilean singer-songwriter and social activist who was murdered for his controversial stance in the ’70s, inspired the concerto called “Canciones de Jara.”

“It’s difficult to create an instrumental piece with no words,” he said. “It helps when you have a concept behind it.”

Lorenz said he made a connection between Díaz and Jara because Díaz originally is from Chile.

“(Jara) was a very well-known artist in Chile and throughout Latin America,” Díaz said. “It’s a name that we all sort of grew up with. His music was always socially conscious, (and) he was always defending the rights of the people.”

Lorenz said the viola has the same timbre and range as Jara’s music.

“At one point, I almost thought I was filming a documentary on (Jara), but in music and sound,” Lorenz said.

Victor Marquez, a composition graduate student, will play his guitar with the orchestra and Díaz on Friday.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Marquez said. “I’ve heard his name several times, but I haven’t played with him before.”

Marquez also has roots in Latin America since he was born in Venezuela. He said performing a piece inspired by someone from his culture transfers an expectation to infuse that background into the music.

“It’s an opportunity, but it’s also a responsibility that I hope will go well,” Marquez said.

Lorenz said the experience of hearing his composition come to life in the hands of more than 70 orchestral musicians is wonderful but also surprising.

Up until the rehearsals, he only had heard the piece in his mind while he worked alone in a studio.

“Sometimes you’re happily surprised, and sometimes you’re shocked,” Lorenz said. “There are always adjustments.”

Although it is unusual, Lorenz said there are a few of his compositions he has heard more than once and each time, they change and take on a life of their own.

“Many times it’s not what you thought, but it’s out there,” he said. “It doesn’t belong to you anymore — only legally in the copyright.”

Tickets for the show are $10 for the general public and free to students and those 18 years and younger. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit whartoncenter.com or call (517) 432-2000.