Condoleezza Rice on Piano - The New York Times The New York Times Music |Condoleezza Rice on Piano Search Continue reading the main story WASHINGTON - TWO weeks ago on Sunday, Condoleezza Rice got up at 4 a.m. so she could fit in her daily exercise regimen -- weights and the treadmill -- and still have time to prepare for interviews on three morning news programs. Just a few hours later, on "Meet the Press," Tim Russert confronted her with recent reports that shortly after the invasion of Iraq, the Russians had given intelligence on American troop movements to the Iraqis. Even on the normally sympathetic "Fox News Sunday," Chris Wallace asked her why Americans should not be outraged that United States troops continue to fight and die while Iraqi politicians haggle over jobs. Toward the end of the program, questions about her future plans predictably arose. Just as predictably, she stated that despite urgings from highly placed Republicans, thank you, no, she would not pursue the presidency. For most people, let alone a secretary of state grappling with an increasingly unpopular war, this would have been enough exertion for the traditional day of rest. But late that afternoon, Ms.

Rice was back home in her comfortable apartment in the Watergate complex for one of her frequent sessions of chamber music with four friends, lawyers by profession and dedicated amateur string players. Continue reading the main story Ms. Rice is an accomplished pianist. At 15 she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, her prize for winning a student competition. Until college she intended to pursue music professionally. Now 51, she plays as often as every other week with this group, which convened three years ago. Until now it was a realm of her very public life that she kept private. Advertisement Continue reading the main story People often ask her, Ms. Rice said that day, whether playing chamber music is relaxing. "It's not exactly relaxing if you are struggling to play Brahms," she explained. "But it is transporting. When you're playing there is only room for Brahms or Shostakovich. It's the time I'm most away from myself, and I treasure it." She is not the only secretary of state to pursue amateur music-making. Thomas Jefferson, the first to hold the office, was an excellent violinist who played chamber music, especially Baroque trio sonatas, throughout his political career.

But back then, playing music at home was commonplace. Not so today, in the era of recording technology, when you can hear almost any piece from the entire history of music by switching on an iPod. The trade-off is that so few people know the personal joy of making music. Whatever else she is to political supporters and opponents, Ms. Rice may be the most prominent amateur musician in the world right now, which is big news for classical music. THE amateurs in Ms. Rice's ensemble do have some professional credentials. Two of the players had successful musical careers before switching to law. Soye Kim, the first violinist, who has two degrees from the Juilliard School, spent busy years studying in Europe and freelancing in New York before she entered law school at 39. Robert Battey was a professor of cello at the University of Missouri for 12 years, and still sometimes coaches. Though Lawrence Wallace, the violist, now retired, is a former law school professor who served as a deputy solicitor general under eight presidents, he used to moonlight as a musician.

Joshua Klein, the second violinist and the youngest member of the ensemble, who clerked for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor last term, studied violin seriously during college and law school. "I don't make money playing the piano," Ms. Rice said, with the pride of a honorable amateur. "No," Mr. Battey replied, "though you have gotten some pretty nice dinners out of it." He was referring to a concert the group played two years ago at the British Embassy for an audience of 100. After the performance, which lasted just over an hour, the British ambassador presented an elegant dinner. In 2003, the group also gave a private concert at Ms. Rice's apartment, which attracted an overflow bipartisan audience, including Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court, Alan Greenspan and Harriet Miers, classical music lovers all. Ms. Rice's ample living room has a nook in a corner, which accommodates her midsize grand piano, a Chickering, a cherished gift from her parents when she was a teenager.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story On this Sunday, once the musicians had settled down and tuned up, they began by playing through the ebullient first movement of Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat. The piano part has fancy runs and elaborate flourishes, especially in a tempestuous contrasting development section, alive with intricate counterpoint. "We generally like to start off with a nice finger-buster for the secretary," Mr. Battey said. That way, he explained, she's warmed up when they really get to work. Ms. Rice's long, thin fingers are nimble indeed, especially for someone who doesn't have much time to practice. Her touch has lightness and subtlety, yet she plays with crisp clarity and, when called for, robust sound. They played right through the first movement. When things got a little tangled in the difficult development section, they had the collective wit to forge ahead and let things untangle. It was wonderful to hear chamber music as it was meant to be: played by friends for their own enjoyment, in the confines of a living room, which makes the sound seem enveloping. Playing chamber music is a bonding experience. During an earlier interview at the State Department, Ms.

Rice said the members of her group had become "like my best friends." "We are like family," she added. Traditionally, playing chamber music has also been a great equalizer. But do these string players really feel free to critique their pianist? Mr. Wallace answered, "I just assumed from the beginning that it wouldn't be any fun for her if we were deferential." Though the Schumann went well, Ms. Rice felt that things had become shaky in the exuberant push to the coda. "Can we try the ending again," she asked, "just for our pride?" So they did, and they played it with more solidity and just as much spirit. But the real give-and-take began when they turned to the first movement of Shostakovich's Piano Quintet in G minor, a piece they are still learning. The music is episodic, moody and -- as so often in Shostakovich -- elusive. Are the evocations of Bach-like counterpoint to be taken at face value? Are the grim outbursts ironic? Advertisement Continue reading the main story The players began the somberly oracular opening section and soon fell out of sync. "My tempo is not your tempo," Ms.

Rice told her colleagues, when they stopped to regroup. As a musician she is a palpably attentive listener. As they tried again, the opening section emerged in a more cohesive arc, and they segued smoothly into a faster episode with curious triplet figures in the piano, which Ms. Rice infused with a stealthy character. When they failed to coalesce in an up-tempo section of the movement, Ms. Rice blamed herself. "I don't know this passage coming up," she said. "So I hesitated to turn the page." She stared at her printed score and said, almost to herself, "I'll get that fixed." There was no doubting it. Ms. Kim commented on the articulate way Ms. Rice played a series of thick chords. "You're playing them really short, Condi," she said. "I hadn't thought of that," she added, warming to the idea. "I like them separated," Ms. Rice replied. "Not too short, maybe kind of sticky." Everyone knew what she meant. After the Shostakovich, they turned to Brahms's Piano Quintet in F minor: "Condi's piece," as Mr. Battey called it.

This intense, intricate and extremely difficult work is one of Ms. Rice's favorites. She reveres Brahms, she said, because the music is "passionate but not sentimental." In the scherzo, the players set a breakneck pace. Sometimes notes splattered and coordination teetered on the brink. It hardly mattered. The music-making was risky and vital. MS. RICE, an only child, is a fourth-generation pianist on her mother's side. Her mother, Angelena Rice, who died of cancer in 1985, taught music and science at an industrial high school in a black suburb of Birmingham, Ala. "My mother was a church musician, and she read music beautifully, but she didn't play classically that much," Ms. Rice said during the earlier interview. "But she had a marvelously improvisational ear, which I don't have." Her father, John Rice, who succeeded his father, a son of slaves, as minister at a Presbyterian church in Birmingham, also loved music, especially big-band jazz. (John Rice died on Christmas Eve in 2000, days after learning that Ms. Rice had been appointed national security adviser.) When she was an infant, Ms.

Rice's parents gave her a tiny toy piano. "They had a plan," she said. Today that gift is prominently displayed on the coffee table in her apartment. But it was her maternal grandmother, Mattie Ray, who proved the decisive musical influence in her life. Because both Ms. Rice's parents worked, she was dropped off each day at the house of her grandmother, who taught piano privately and sensed her eagerness and talent. Lessons started when she was 3. "I don't remember learning to read music -- you know, the lines and spaces and all that," Ms. Rice said. "From my point of view I could always read music." Advertisement Continue reading the main story Classical music became her passion from the day her mother bought her a recording of Verdi's "Aida," and she listened, "my little eyes like saucers," she said, to the brassy and stirring "Triumphal March." Ms. Rice, not quite 9, was sitting in her father's church on the Sunday morning in 1963 when, two miles away, bombs went off at a Baptist church and four black girls were killed, one of them a childhood playmate of hers.

During this period of protests, fire hoses and bombs in Birmingham, she found comfort taking music classes at a local conservatory that had boldly opened its doors to black children. In 1969, the family moved to Denver, and Ms. Rice, having skipped the first and seventh grades, entered the University of Denver at 15 as a music major. At 17, she attended the prestigious summer school at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado and came to believe that though she was a very good pianist, she was "not great," she said. "That was the really the revelation," she added. "And it wasn't just that experience. You start noticing prodigies, and you realize that I'm never going to play that way." There is "just some intangible" in music, she said. Whatever it was, she said she felt she didn't have it. She decided to major in international relations instead, focusing on the Soviet Union. As her career in higher education and government prospered, she began to let her music slip.

Feeling the loss in 1993, when she became the youngest provost in the history of Stanford University, she applied herself again on the piano and took regular lessons with a faculty member, George Barth. It was he who encouraged her to immerse herself in chamber music. A couple of times in recent years she has ventured onto a concert stage for special occasions. In 2002, when the cellist Yo-Yo Ma received a National Medal of the Arts, he requested that Ms. Rice accompany him in a piece during the ceremony at Constitution Hall. They played the slow movement of Brahms's Violin Sonata in D minor in an arrangement for cello and piano. A photo showing her playing with Mr. Ma that night has pride of place in her living room. Ms. Rice has only just begun to see the potential of music as a diplomatic tool, notably last February, when she delivered a speech in Paris about American rapprochement with Europe in the face of vehement disagreements over the invasion of Iraq. During the trip, she visited the Hector Berlioz Conservatory in Paris, where she attended a children's music class and watched young ensembles perform.

As cameras caught her listening, she seemed deeply affected by the fledgling musicians. At the time, there were "whole questions about U.S.-French relations and so forth," she said, "and I think it was just nice to connect with the French kids." Asked to play something, she declined, but promised to come back sometime with her chamber group. Her fellow players would surely be eager to go. At the Sunday session, after their hellbent rendition of the Brahms scherzo, they segued without a break from the fortissimo final chords of that movement to the mysterious introductory section of the finale, a minor-mode Allegro with a touch of a Gypsy dance. Connecting these two movements is a bold interpretive stroke. Advertisement Continue reading the main story "The scherzo has such an odd and abrupt ending," Mr. Rice said. So plunging right into the slow introduction that follows "seemed like a good idea," she said. Wanting credit, Mr.

Battey said, "It was my idea." His colleagues laughed and said, "Yeah, yeah." As the session ended, the string players packed up their instruments and took places around the coffee table for their traditional postrehearsal reward: white wine and cheese. As they chatted, Ms. Rice's friends spoke of how touched they had been to be invited to her swearing-in as secretary of state and to her 50th-birthday celebration, attended by President and Mrs. Bush. Ms. Rice, who lives a short walk from the Kennedy Center, said she was looking forward to attending the Washington National Opera's new production of Wagner's "Rheingold" when she returned from an overseas trip. In February she took in the Kirov's production of Puccini's "Turandot," when the company visited the capital. She spoke of how impressed she had been by the innovative staging. By the music, too. "That's about the only Puccini opera I can take," she said. A couple of us, led by this Puccini lover, stuck up for him. But Ms. Rice is not alone in her opinion.

Her favorite opera is Mussorgsky's epic "Khovanshchina," not surprising, given her expertise in Russian culture, language and history. It may have special resonance today: it tells of bloody factional strife at the time of the ascension of Peter the Great, made worse by the intransigence of the Old Believers, a fundamentalist Orthodox group opposed to reform. These days, Ms. Rice finds chamber music so fulfilling that she has almost no desire to play solo works, she said. But she does have her eyes on a particular prize of the piano repertory. "Before I leave this earth, I'm somehow going to learn the Brahms Second Piano Concerto," she said, "which is the most beautiful piece of music." It is also dauntingly hard. Whether Condoleezza Rice some day becomes commissioner of the National Football League, president of Stanford or president of whatever is anyone's guess. But don't bet against her learning Brahms's Second Concerto. Condoleezza Rice plays piano for the Queen - Telegraph The Royal Family Condoleezza Rice plays piano for the Queen Condoleezza Rice played a private piano recital for the Queen at Buckingham Palace during a visit to London.

Link to this video 10:16PM GMT 01 Dec 2008 The outgoing US Secretary of State was accompanied by Louise Miliband, the wife of Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra in her performance of Brahms. The stateswoman – who is a concert level pianist – was allowed to use a music room at the palace after expressing a wish to play for the Queen before leaving office at the end of the Bush administration in January. The Queen listened to part of the performance, and afterward presented Miss Rice with an audio recording of the recital as a gift. Miss Rice started playing the piano as a child and planned a career in music, originally enrolling at university to study the subject before switching to political science. At 15 she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, as a prize for winning a student competition. She was taught the instrument by her mother, who was a music teacher, and regularly performs private chamber music recitals with four friends, leading to her be described as the world's most prominent amateur musician.

Related Articles 10 Celebrities Who Play Musical Instruments California Music Studios - Preparing Students by Making Music Fun 10 Celebrities Who Play Musical Instruments Music is an amazing medium for self-expression. Countless studies show that it’s good for your health, physical and otherwise. It improves your academic success and fosters and stimulates your imagination . While there are plenty of musicians and composers you can and should look up to, a fair few celebrities harbor hidden musical talents. 1. Steve Martin Steve Martin is a regular Renaissance Man—actor, comedian, writer, and Broadway star. He got his start selling guidebooks and performing magic at the Main Street Magic Shop in Disneyland, so it’s not surprising to add “musician” to this polymath’s growing resume. Martin picked up the banjo as a teenager and hasn’t looked back since. In 2002, his rendition of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” by Earl Scruggs earned him a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. In 2009, his album “Rare Bird Alert” won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and he won another in 2014 for the song “Love Has Come For You,” a collaboration with Edie Brickell.

Alternating between clawhammer and three-finger style, Martin is a regular fixture at jazz festivals and performs solo or with the Steep Canyon Rangers. He even created the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, awarded to a musician or group displaying outstanding achievement in five-string banjo or bluegrass music. 2. Condoleezza Rice The former Secretary of State under the Bush administration initially had dreams of performing music professionally. Rice began studying to become a professional concert pianist at the age of 15, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in Dm with the Denver with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, which was her prize for winning a student music competition. While her life took her in a different direction, Rice remained an avid piano player. In 2002, she accompanied cellist Yo-Yo Ma for the National Medal of Arts Awards, and in 2008, Rice performed for Queen Elizabeth II. The former Secretary of State still performs private chamber music with a group of friends. 3. Ryan Gosling An Oscar-nominated actor, director, heartthrob, and all-around cool guy, Ryan Gosling went an extra step and formed a band with friend Zach Shields.

Shields and Gosling originally bonded over their shared love of horror movies, music, and generally spooky things, giving birth to the supernatural-themed Dead Man’s Bones. Their self-titled album, released in 2009, included love songs about zombies, ghosts, werewolves, and monsters and a strict set of recording rules: Shields and Gosling had to play all the instruments. Electric guitars and click tracks were forbidden. Each track was limited to three takes. Gosling contributed vocals, piano, guitar, bass, and cello, while Shields provided percussion and guitar. Add in the Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir, and the end result is an eerie but ultimately awesome music experience. 4. Clint Eastwood The actor is known for portraying Dirty Harry and other Western favorites, but before his success on the big screen, Clint Eastwood wanted to expand his artistic range, dabbling in the world of pop. In 1961, Eastwood cut a single called “Unknown Girl,” a record that was pure bubblegum. It wasn’t a particularly successful album, but it did reveal Eastwood’s musical acumen. As it turns out, Eastwood is also quite the pianist and composer.

He is one of the few directors to compose the film scores for his own movies, including: Mystic River Changeling 5. Manny Pacquiao While most people are more familiar with seeing him in the ring than behind the mic, Manny Pacquiao is a man of many talents. He’s an actor, he serves as a congressman in the Philippines, and he’s a passionate musician. To date, Pacquiao has recorded two studio albums, a cover album, three singles, and four music videos. Not a bad cherry on top to his ten world boxing titles. 6. Hugh Laurie Most know Hugh Laurie for his double act with Stephen Fry or his stint as the titular protagonist on the show House, but not many know that he’s a proficient musician and singer. His life in music started with piano lessons when he was just six, developing a deeply ingrained love and appreciation for American blues music. Laurie’s music talents include playing the drums, guitar, harmonica, piano, saxophone, and singing.

He released his first album, a New Orleans blues-influenced record titled “Let Them Talk,” in 2011, and in 2013, he released his second album “Didn’t It Rain.” 7. Halle Berry Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Halle Berry has risen to international stardom. She’s one of the highest-paid Hollywood actresses and won an Academy Award in 2001 for her performance in “Monster’s Ball,” making her the first African-American woman to win this honor. Prior to her film career, Berry was a pageant queen in the early 1980s, earning titles as Miss Teen Ohio and Miss Teen America. During her time in high school, Berry was driven to excel, joining the newspaper, cheerleading team, student government association, and band, where she played flute. 8. Tina Fey Comedian, actress, writer, and producer, Tina Fey had her first breakout on “Saturday Night Live” as a writer and actress. She has written successful movies, wrote the bestseller Bossypants, and created, wrote, and starred in “30 Rock,” for which she won numerous awards.

In fifth grade, Fey played the flute, and she was a member of her high school’s choir. 9. Rainn Wilson Rainn Wilson is best known for portraying the strange, geeky Dwight Schrute in “The Office,” but his interests range far and wide. He co-founded SoulPancake, a media company focused on exploring creativity, spirituality, philosophy, art, and other big questions through books, articles, webseries, and beyond. Wilson played music throughout high school and college and continues to play today. His instruments of choice included the piano, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, xylophone, baritone, guitar, and drums. 10. Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg is known as the director who opened up new worlds and drove the imaginations of kids and adults alike. From “Jurassic Park” to “E.T.” to “Jaws,” Spielberg’s movies work to define a generation and tell stories that are exciting and thought-provoking. In high school, Spielberg played the clarinet, which contributed to his first full-length movie at the young age of 16. The sci-fi film “Firelight” had a budget of just $500.

To stay within budget, Spielberg composed the film’s score on his own clarinet. The movie garnered all of $1 in profits, but it was the start of an amazing, unmatched career. This all goes to show that music is, most of all, a lot of fun, and even if you don’t make a career out of it, it’s still a lot of fun to learn and play music . The best part: it’s never too late to learn! Images: – “Steve Martin at the Highline Ballroom” by Jens Schott Knudsen is licensed under CC BY 2.0 – “Condi on the Keys” by Mike Licht is licensed under CC BY 2.0 – “Hugh Laurie Gig in Belo Horizonte – Brazil” by antoniothomas is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Resources: Condoleezza Rice performs on the piano at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II - YouTube Condoleezza Rice performs on the piano at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading...

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Dec 1, 2008 The outgoing US Secretary of State was accompanied by Louise Miliband, the wife of Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra in her performance of Brahms. The stateswoman who is a concert level pianist was allowed to use a music room at the palace after expressing a wish to play for the Queen before leaving office at the end of the Bush administration in January. The Queen listened to part of the performance, and afterward presented Miss Rice with an audio recording of the recital as a gift. Miss Rice started playing the piano as a child and planned a career in music, originally enrolling at university to study the subject before switching to political science. At 15 she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, as a prize for winning a student competition. She was taught the instrument by her mother, who was a music teacher, and regularly performs private chamber music recitals with four friends, leading to her be described as the world's most prominent amateur musician.

Miss Rice was visiting London before heading for Brussels to attend a meeting of Nato leaders. Earlier in the day, she met Gordon Brown and Mr Miliband.--Telegraph Category Celebrities who Play Piano | by Sarah James In the Western tradition, the piano is widely held as one of the finest musical instruments. Invented in Italy in the 18th century, the piano is still as alluring as it was during the time of Mozart. There are a number of celebrities who couldn’t resist the temptation to try their hands on this wonderful instrument and were not afraid of working hard. As a consequence they can play piano very well. Here are three such celebrities from three different walks of life who have only one thing in common: their love for piano. Condoleezza Rice – Politician She was a former Secretary of State. She worked for the American government during George Bush, Jr.’s presidency. She proved pivotal in spreading US propaganda prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq which successfully convinced at least one influential newspaper in America to support an attack. However it is not widely known that the most powerful lady in the world was a piano prodigy as a child.

Condoleezza Rice Jaron Lanier – computer scientist, author He does not work in film industry. He is not a politician. He is famous for his work on virtual reality (in fact he coined the term) and his book ‘You are not a Gadget.’ He was on Time’s 100 most influential people in the world list in 2010. This 51-year-old computer scientist has another less popular facet too; he loves music and exotic musical instruments. One of the musical instruments he loves and plays is the piano. Jaron Lanier Playing the Piano Sandra Bullock – actress Born in 1964 in Virginia in the United States, this Academy Award winner star is often fondly referred to as “America’s sweetheart.” She reached the zenith of her fame in the 1990s. Though her popularity has subsided somewhat, she still remains one of the most instantly recognizable faces in Hollywood and one of the highest-earning actresses in the world. She plays piano too. Sandra Bullock Loves the Piano That was inspiring, wasn’t it? If it makes you want to learn piano, we can help. Just visit our website to find piano tutors NYC and meet other piano enthusiasts.

If you’re looking for someone in the NYC area to train with, we have piano buddies on HeyKiki just waiting to connect with you! If you’d like to learn another sport or activity other than piano, we have other instructors and classes in your area on HeyKiki too. Musical politicians: from Bill Clinton to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - Telegraph Music news Musical politicians: from Bill Clinton to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Silvio Berlusconi is not the only head of state with a penchant for singing and playing music. Here we look at leading politicians who have also been blessed with musical talents.

Bill Clinton playing the saxophone during the 1992 election campaign Photo: REX Tony Blair playing the guitar in 1995 Photo: REX Image 1 of 5 Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sings a song during a press gathering in the Cipanas palace Photo: AFP/GETTY Image 1 of 5 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, centre, performs The Beatles songs on the piano at the National Arts Centre Gala in Ottawa Photo: REX Image 1 of 5 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plays the piano at a gala dinner in Kuala Lumpur Photo: AFP/GETTY Music and Culture: Condoleezza Rice: Pianist Music and Culture A repository for articles on all aspects of music and culture (and a few musings) Saturday, April 08, 2006 Condoleezza Rice on Piano By ANTHONY TOMMASINI WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago on Sunday, Condoleezza Rice got up at 4 a.m. so she could fit in her daily exercise regimen — weights and the treadmill — and still have time to prepare for interviews on three morning news programs.

Just a few hours later, on "Meet the Press," Tim Russert confronted her with recent reports that shortly after the invasion of Iraq, the Russians had given intelligence on American troop movements to the Iraqis. Even on the normally sympathetic "Fox News Sunday," Chris Wallace asked her why Americans should not be outraged that United States troops continue to fight and die while Iraqi politicians haggle over jobs. Toward the end of the program, questions about her future plans predictably arose. Just as predictably, she stated that despite urgings from highly placed Republicans, thank you, no, she would not pursue the presidency. For most people, let alone a secretary of state grappling with an increasingly unpopular war, this would have been enough exertion for the traditional day of rest. But late that afternoon, Ms. Rice was back home in her comfortable apartment in the Watergate complex for one of her frequent sessions of chamber music with four friends, lawyers by profession and dedicated amateur string players. Ms. Rice is an accomplished pianist. At 15 she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, her prize for winning a student competition. Until college she intended to pursue music professionally.

Now 51, she plays as often as every other week with this group, which convened three years ago. Until now it was a realm of her very public life that she kept private. People often ask her, Ms. Rice said that day, whether playing chamber music is relaxing. "It's not exactly relaxing if you are struggling to play Brahms," she explained. "But it is transporting. When you're playing there is only room for Brahms or Shostakovich. It's the time I'm most away from myself, and I treasure it." She is not the only secretary of state to pursue amateur music-making. Thomas Jefferson, the first to hold the office, was an excellent violinist who played chamber music, especially Baroque trio sonatas, throughout his political career. But back then, playing music at home was commonplace. Not so today, in the era of recording technology, when you can hear almost any piece from the entire history of music by switching on an iPod. The trade-off is that so few people know the personal joy of making music. Whatever else she is to political supporters and opponents, Ms. Rice may be the most prominent amateur musician in the world right now, which is big news for classical music.

THE amateurs in Ms. Rice's ensemble do have some professional credentials. Two of the players had successful musical careers before switching to law. Soye Kim, the first violinist, who has two degrees from the Juilliard School, spent busy years studying in Europe and freelancing in New York before she entered law school at 39. Robert Battey was a professor of cello at the University of Missouri for 12 years, and still sometimes coaches. Though Lawrence Wallace, the violist, now retired, is a former law school professor who served as a deputy solicitor general under eight presidents, he used to moonlight as a musician. Joshua Klein, the second violinist and the youngest member of the ensemble, who clerked for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor last term, studied violin seriously during college and law school. "I don't make money playing the piano," Ms. Rice said, with the pride of a honorable amateur. "No," Mr. Battey replied, "though you have gotten some pretty nice dinners out of it." He was referring to a concert the group played two years ago at the British Embassy for an audience of 100.

After the performance, which lasted just over an hour, the British ambassador presented an elegant dinner. In 2003, the group also gave a private concert at Ms. Rice's apartment, which attracted an overflow bipartisan audience, including Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court, Alan Greenspan and Harriet Miers, classical music lovers all. Ms. Rice's ample living room has a nook in a corner, which accommodates her midsize grand piano, a Chickering, a cherished gift from her parents when she was a teenager. On this Sunday, once the musicians had settled down and tuned up, they began by playing through the ebullient first movement of Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat. The piano part has fancy runs and elaborate flourishes, especially in a tempestuous contrasting development section, alive with intricate counterpoint. "We generally like to start off with a nice finger-buster for the secretary," Mr. Battey said. That way, he explained, she's warmed up when they really get to work. Ms. Rice's long, thin fingers are nimble indeed, especially for someone who doesn't have much time to practice.

Her touch has lightness and subtlety, yet she plays with crisp clarity and, when called for, robust sound. They played right through the first movement. When things got a little tangled in the difficult development section, they had the collective wit to forge ahead and let things untangle. It was wonderful to hear chamber music as it was meant to be: played by friends for their own enjoyment, in the confines of a living room, which makes the sound seem enveloping. Playing chamber music is a bonding experience. During an earlier interview at the State Department, Ms. Rice said the members of her group had become "like my best friends." "We are like family," she added. Traditionally, playing chamber music has also been a great equalizer. But do these string players really feel free to critique their pianist? Mr. Wallace answered, "I just assumed from the beginning that it wouldn't be any fun for her if we were deferential." Though the Schumann went well, Ms. Rice felt that things had become shaky in the exuberant push to the coda.

"Can we try the ending again," she asked, "just for our pride?" So they did, and they played it with more solidity and just as much spirit. But the real give-and-take began when they turned to the first movement of Shostakovich's Piano Quintet in G minor, a piece they are still learning. The music is episodic, moody and — as so often in Shostakovich — elusive. Are the evocations of Bach-like counterpoint to be taken at face value? Are the grim outbursts ironic? The players began the somberly oracular opening section and soon fell out of sync. "My tempo is not your tempo," Ms. Rice told her colleagues, when they stopped to regroup. As a musician she is a palpably attentive listener. As they tried again, the opening section emerged in a more cohesive arc, and they segued smoothly into a faster episode with curious triplet figures in the piano, which Ms. Rice infused with a stealthy character. When they failed to coalesce in an up-tempo section of the movement, Ms. Rice blamed herself. "I don't know this passage coming up," she said.

"So I hesitated to turn the page." She stared at her printed score and said, almost to herself, "I'll get that fixed." There was no doubting it. Ms. Kim commented on the articulate way Ms. Rice played a series of thick chords. "You're playing them really short, Condi," she said. "I hadn't thought of that," she added, warming to the idea. "I like them separated," Ms. Rice replied. "Not too short, maybe kind of sticky." Everyone knew what she meant. After the Shostakovich, they turned to Brahms's Piano Quintet in F minor: "Condi's piece," as Mr. Battey called it. This intense, intricate and extremely difficult work is one of Ms. Rice's favorites. She reveres Brahms, she said, because the music is "passionate but not sentimental." In the scherzo, the players set a breakneck pace. Sometimes notes splattered and coordination teetered on the brink. It hardly mattered. The music-making was risky and vital. MS. RICE, an only child, is a fourth-generation pianist on her mother's side.

Her mother, Angelena Rice, who died of cancer in 1985, taught music and science at an industrial high school in a black suburb of Birmingham, Ala. "My mother was a church musician, and she read music beautifully, but she didn't play classically that much," Ms. Rice said during the earlier interview. "But she had a marvelously improvisational ear, which I don't have." Her father, John Rice, who succeeded his father, a son of slaves, as minister at a Presbyterian church in Birmingham, also loved music, especially big-band jazz. (John Rice died on Christmas Eve in 2000, days after learning that Ms. Rice had been appointed national security adviser.) When she was an infant, Ms. Rice's parents gave her a tiny toy piano. "They had a plan," she said. Today that gift is prominently displayed on the coffee table in her apartment. But it was her maternal grandmother, Mattie Ray, who proved the decisive musical influence in her life. Because both Ms. Rice's parents worked, she was dropped off each day at the house of her grandmother, who taught piano privately and sensed her eagerness and talent. Lessons started when she was 3.

"I don't remember learning to read music — you know, the lines and spaces and all that," Ms. Rice said. "From my point of view I could always read music." Classical music became her passion from the day her mother bought her a recording of Verdi's "Aida," and she listened, "my little eyes like saucers," she said, to the brassy and stirring "Triumphal March." Ms. Rice, not quite 9, was sitting in her father's church on the Sunday morning in 1963 when, two miles away, bombs went off at a Baptist church and four black girls were killed, one of them a childhood playmate of hers. During this period of protests, fire hoses and bombs in Birmingham, she found comfort taking music classes at a local conservatory that had boldly opened its doors to black children. In 1969, the family moved to Denver, and Ms. Rice, having skipped the first and seventh grades, entered the University of Denver at 15 as a music major.

At 17, she attended the prestigious summer school at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado and came to believe that though she was a very good pianist, she was "not great," she said. "That was the really the revelation," she added. "And it wasn't just that experience. You start noticing prodigies, and you realize that I'm never going to play that way." There is "just some intangible" in music, she said. Whatever it was, she said she felt she didn't have it. She decided to major in international relations instead, focusing on the Soviet Union. As her career in higher education and government prospered, she began to let her music slip. Feeling the loss in 1993, when she became the youngest provost in the history of Stanford University, she applied herself again on the piano and took regular lessons with a faculty member, George Barth. It was he who encouraged her to immerse herself in chamber music. A couple of times in recent years she has ventured onto a concert stage for special occasions. In 2002, when the cellist Yo-Yo Ma received a National Medal of the Arts, he requested that Ms.

Rice accompany him in a piece during the ceremony at Constitution Hall. They played the slow movement of Brahms's Violin Sonata in D minor in an arrangement for cello and piano. A photo showing her playing with Mr. Ma that night has pride of place in her living room. Ms. Rice has only just begun to see the potential of music as a diplomatic tool, notably last February, when she delivered a speech in Paris about American rapprochement with Europe in the face of vehement disagreements over the invasion of Iraq. During the trip, she visited the Hector Berlioz Conservatory in Paris, where she attended a children's music class and watched young ensembles perform. As cameras caught her listening, she seemed deeply affected by the fledgling musicians. At the time, there were "whole questions about U.S.-French relations and so forth," she said, "and I think it was just nice to connect with the French kids." Asked to play something, she declined, but promised to come back sometime with her chamber group. Her fellow players would surely be eager to go.

At the Sunday session, after their hellbent rendition of the Brahms scherzo, they segued without a break from the fortissimo final chords of that movement to the mysterious introductory section of the finale, a minor-mode Allegro with a touch of a Gypsy dance. Connecting these two movements is a bold interpretive stroke. "The scherzo has such an odd and abrupt ending," Ms. Rice said. So plunging right into the slow introduction that follows "seemed like a good idea," she said. Wanting credit, Mr. Battey said, "It was my idea." His colleagues laughed and said, "Yeah, yeah." As the session ended, the string players packed up their instruments and took places around the coffee table for their traditional postrehearsal reward: white wine and cheese. As they chatted, Ms. Rice's friends spoke of how touched they had been to be invited to her swearing-in as secretary of state and to her 50th-birthday celebration, attended by President and Mrs. Bush. Ms.

Rice, who lives a short walk from the Kennedy Center, said she was looking forward to attending the Washington National Opera's new production of Wagner's "Rheingold" when she returned from an overseas trip. In February she took in the Kirov's production of Puccini's "Turandot," when the company visited the capital. She spoke of how impressed she had been by the innovative staging. By the music, too. "That's about the only Puccini opera I can take," she said. A couple of us, led by this Puccini lover, stuck up for him. But Ms. Rice is not alone in her opinion. Her favorite opera is Mussorgsky's epic "Khovanshchina," not surprising, given her expertise in Russian culture, language and history. It may have special resonance today: it tells of bloody factional strife at the time of the ascension of Peter the Great, made worse by the intransigence of the Old Believers, a fundamentalist Orthodox group opposed to reform. These days, Ms. Rice finds chamber music so fulfilling that she has almost no desire to play solo works, she said.

But she does have her eyes on a particular prize of the piano repertory. "Before I leave this earth, I'm somehow going to learn the Brahms Second Piano Concerto," she said, "which is the most beautiful piece of music." It is also dauntingly hard. Whether Condoleezza Rice some day becomes commissioner of the National Football League, president of Stanford or president of whatever is anyone's guess. But don't bet against her learning Brahms's Second Concerto. Posted by Kevin at Pianist Condoleezza Rice: Playing off music and foreign policy - The Salt Lake Tribune Pianist Condoleezza Rice: Playing off music and foreign policy By Celia R. Baker Special To The Tribune Published January 10, 2011 12:54 pm Music • Muir Quartet will join former U.S. Secretary of State at benefit Park City concert. Share This Article This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted. Condoleezza Rice made her mark on world history as national security adviser, then U.S.

Secretary of State, during George W. Bush's presidential administration, but foreign policy is not her only area of expertise. Rice's influence will be felt closer to home this week when she performs as a concert pianist to raise money for the Utah Symphony's Deer Valley Music Festival. She will collaborate with the Muir Quartet, which presents the Emerging Quartets and Composers Program in Utah with eminent composer Joan Tower each summer and serves as the Deer Valley Music Festival's resident chamber ensemble. Rice was born in 1954 in Birmingham, Ala. She rose above the racial segregation of the time, becoming at age 10 the first black student admitted to study at the Birmingham Southern Conservatory of Music. Later, after her family moved to Colorado, Rice won her first musical competition with a performance of Mozart's D Minor Piano Concerto, later performing with the Denver Symphony Orchestra. Music was Rice's first college major at the University of Denver, where she developed an interest in foreign policy. She earned a master's degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 1975.

During the high-profile political career that followed, she continued to make music an important part of her life, performing at diplomatic events and in support of charitable causes. She wasn't available for comment in this story, but her friend and musical collaborator, Muir Quartet cellist Michael Reynolds, spoke to The Tribune about Rice's musicianship and avid support of arts education. Rice has previously collaborated with the Muir Quartet to support the Montana Chamber Music Festival, the Fredericksburg Festival of the Arts, and Classics for Kids, a foundation that provides musical instruments for schools around the nation. "[Rice] is one of the most warm and brilliant people I've ever met, and incredibly generous with her time," Reynolds said. "She's a very busy lady, and for her to give freely of her time to do good works such as this is a testament to her good nature." Reynolds said Rice could have been a professional pianist, but foreign policy interested her more. "My understanding is that she always finds time to practice a little every day to stay in shape, and did that in Washington as well," Reynolds said. "Music for her is a real release.

Not an escape, because playing music is always a very difficult thing  but a way to send her mind to a place she truly loves." Rice will perform selected movements from Dvorák's Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major with the Muir Quartet and will team with Muir violist Peter Zazofsky for the second movement of Brahms' D Minor Violin Sonata. Concert proceeds will benefit the festival's educational program, specifically the Emerging Quartets and Composers program. It's unique in that it supports young quartets at a crucial, vulnerable stage in their careers, Reynolds said. The salon appearance at the Stein Eriksen Lodge sold out almost immediately after the benefit was announced. It's expected to net more than $100,000 for the Emerging Quartets and Composers program, said Carey Cusimano, the festival's vice president of development. features@sltrib.com  Musical diplomacy P Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a classically trained pianist, will join the Muir Quartet in chamber music of Dvorák and Brahms. Where • Stein Eriksen Lodge When • Friday, Jan.

14, at 5:45 p.m. Admission • The performance, a benefit for the Deer Valley Music Festival, summer home of the Utah Symphony, is sold out and has a long waiting list.

Question: Ex-US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice plays which musical instrument?
Answer: Piano