Radiance

Program Note

Jonathan Leshnoff composed the Radiance, In Memory Of Christina Tarsell in 2013 to commemorate and celebrate the life of Christina (Chris) Richelle Tarsell. The work was commissioned by Chris’s mother, Emily Tarsell. In June of 2008, at the tender age of 21, Chris died suddenly from an adverse reaction to the hpv vaccine Gardasil.

At the time of her death, Chris was entering her senior year at Bard College where she was an honors student in art and philosophy. She was art editor of the literary magazine, Verse Noire, a member of the tennis team, a member of the Towson Unitarian Universalist Church and an advocate for human rights. At memorials in New York and Maryland, family members, teachers, and friends shared reminiscences of a beloved young woman who, in middle school, was the only girl to play on the boy’s baseball team and who throughout her life, exhibited talent as an artist, athlete and humanitarian. They spoke to Christina’s qualities – her curiosity, compassion, courage, thoughtfulness as a philosophical and spiritual seeker and her ability to be a catalyst for bridging differences among people. She loved the stimulation and diversity of New York City as well as the quiet beauty of nature. These personality attributes, in addition to Christina’s stunning visual art, inspired Mr. Leshnoff’s work.

Mr. Leshnoff has captured the spirit of a robust, probing young woman moved by a passion for life expressed by light, color and texture. Mr. Leshnoff musically contrasts the lively ups and downs of youth in the opening with the darker mood of tragic loss. The piece opens with bright rising lines, the principal motive of the work, and progresses from a contemplative moment. Afterwards, dark, soaring lines predominate. Surprisingly, the piece resolves in light, culminating with an ethereal echo of the initial melody, leaving us with a sense of transformation and Chris’s spiritual presence.