Time After All

Program Notes:

In my 20s, my mother was diagnosed with early on-set dementia. I
subsequently learned my grandfather died of Alzheimer’s at age 55.
Allegedly, I my chances of developing the disease by my mid-fifties
hovered at 50%. Always a high achiever, I was driven to learn, to
accomplish, as the weight of an early demise was heavy. At 38, as I
continued to work full time I returned to my first love, composing.
Composing since age 9, I had not studied it in college. Time felt fleeting.
I crammed as much into my life as possible, including hiking and
backpacking across the country. Finishing graduate school with high
honors, I began my compositional career, frustrated I wasn’t moving
forward faster. As I aged past my grandparents, past my mother’s
diagnosis, with no sign of dementia, I realized I have TIME, AFTER ALL.

– Christina Rusnak, 2023