Christie Lundquist's musical voice and writing voice carried the same tone: Her poems reflected her passion for music, and her music was poetry.
In her poem "Constancy," published by the Christian Science Monitor in August of 1980, she wrote:Let us talk of constancy my friend
Let us stand together, though apart
in music's art
as two tones within a triad do depend
And she lived her idea of steady individuality.
Lundquist, principal clarinetist with the Utah Symphony, died March 12 at age 51, and some of her Utah Symphony colleagues will be performing a tribute to her life and career on Friday, April 3, at noon in the lobby of Abravanel Hall. In addition, the Symphony will endow the principal clarinet chair in her name. (Contributions for this project may be made to: The Christie Lundquist Memorial Fund and sent to the Utah Symphony at 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.)
"She had a burning interest and curiosity about everything," said Erich Graf, longtime friend and principal flutist of the Utah Symphony. Lundquist wrote poetry, participated in public speaking with Toastmasters and was a ballroom dancer, among other activities.
Her musical sensibilities developed at an early age. "She could harmonize before she could walk," said her mother, Corinne Lundquist, in a telephone interview from her home in Escondido, Calif. A violinist, Corinne Lundquist always kept classical music playing on a small record player in her home.
"I didn't want her to play the violin. I thought it would be more fun for her to be in the band."
When a flute, a clarinet and an accordion were presented to her, the young girl went for the accordion. "I said, `No way!' so she decided on the clarinet over the flute."
As a youngster, Christie Lundquist practiced six to eight hours every day. "We never told her to practice, but we often told her to stop at 11:30."
Lundquist earned her degrees at the University of Southern California and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She joined the Utah Symphony in 1977.
She also taught privately. "She had a sense of inspiration, playing from the soul instead of from the head," said Kathy Pope, a close friend and student of Lundquist's for four years in the late '70s.
A Christian Scientist, she listed the Bible and "Science and Health" as her favorite books in a symphony questionnaire. "The most important things in her life . . . first was God, then family, then music, then friends," said her mother.
She spent her last two months at the Sunland Home, a care facility in San Diego, Calif. "She would play the clarinet in her room," her mother said. " `Tarantella' or scales or something. And the nurses opened the doors so others could hear her playing."