Concert pianist Linda Rice performed a Christmas carols concert at Chapel B Saturday, December 7. Also known as a world-renowned harpist, Rice has performed in venues from jails and prisons to the White House. The artist has visited San Quentin for 25 years and has taught piano at San Quentin for William James Association for many years.
The concert also featured soprano Megan O’Brien, San Quentin’s Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Chapel Choir director since 2019. A vocal teacher at a local music school, O’Brien said she visited San Quentin Rehabilitation Center twice a week to work with incarcerated singers.
Rice began the evening with a prayer of gratitude. She then recited the line “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” from Psalm 100. Rice began the concert by playing a piano solo of “Silent Night,” followed by “Carol of the Bells.” Next, Rice reinterpreted “We Three Kings” by wandering into a staccato jazz rhythm.
Rice then asked the audience to sing along to “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus,” followed by “The First Noel,” and an improvised E-minor medley of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “What Child Is This?” and “Let All Mortal Flesh.”
Pianist Mark Kinney, an SQRC resident, joined Rice on stage to play the drums for “Little Drummer Boy.” Rice said she considered Kinney one of the finest musicians with whom she ever worked and she told the audience that she did not invite “just anybody” to perform with her.
Kinney later said he had known these carols since childhood, but as a child, he had not appreciated them. “Now, they make me emotional.” He said he liked “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” best because “the minor key gives you a melancholic, distant feeling that soon goes into a major key and the mood changes totally, and makes you feel festive.”
O’Brien entered the stage for a performance of “Oh, Holy Night,” which earned her a standing ovation. Many audience members said they considered the performance the highlight of the evening, commenting on both O’Brien’s powerful voice and Rice’s skillful accompaniment.
Near the end of the concert, Rice told a story about one of her favorite carols: “When I was growing up in Oklahoma, we did not have much money, but my mother often took the bus to Jenkins’ Music Store in downtown Tulsa and she paid 65 cents for sheet music. One day, she came back with her favorite Christmas carol, and she asked me to play it. That was ‘Winter Wonderland.’”
After the performance, Rice said she recently played a concert at a private home in San Rafael. “The hosts had a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand piano,” she said with considerable excitement. Famous classical pianists “Vladimir Horowitz and Glenn Gould had played on it and had signed it.”
Imperial Concert Grand pianos have 97 keys instead of the customary 88 keys of Concert Grand pianos, offering a full eight octaves in tonal range. Composer Franz Liszt played only Bösendorfer pianos because they could endure his rigorous performances; on other pianos, he would break the soundboards usually after only one use.
The evening ended with the classic carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Rice said she looked forward to returning next year.
Catholic Chaplain Father George Williams said, “Linda Rice embodies what it means to be a true Christian.”
