In 1992 he received the Premio Nacional, the highest recognition conferred by the Chilean Government to its artists, writers, scientists, and historians. In the international realm the Organization of American States in Washington D.C. granted him in 1988 the Premio Interamericano de Cultura Gabriela Mistral. One of his frequent returns to Chile was in November 2005 to attend the presentation of his book Encuentros, visions y repasos: Captulos en el camino de mi msica y mi vida, in part memoirs and a chronicle of his thoughts and ideas on music in general as well as reflections on his own work as a creator. He then attended a concert of two of his major works by the Orquesta Sinfnica de Chile conducted by his son Juan Felipe Orrego.