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They say that Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year” and not without reason. For Amsterdam composer, Maria Riccio Bryce, the wonders and light of the holiday are some of the most inspiring times of the year.

“I don’t think there’s a season that’s more provocative,” Riccio Bryce said. "It’s a shared experience we all have, but when you say the word Christmas everyone responds in some way.”

Riccio Bryce lays out her love for the Christmas season in her recently released CD, “Remember Me, Remember You,” which is full of traditional holiday classics along with several of her own compositions. 

“Once I got that idea, I loved writing it,” the composer said. “I’ve never focused on my work as a pianist, so this was new for me and a little daring to put myself out there as a soloist, but ... I love what I came up with. I think it was successful, I think it does sound like the way I hear Christmas!”

“Remember Me, Remember You,” was recorded at St. Luke’s Church in Schenectady where Riccio Bryce has been music director for 25 years. The CD includes the talents of many close friends, family and work colleagues of Riccio Bryce in the Capital District: vocalists John Allen, Judi Merriam and Gail Garrison, and Musicians of Ma’alwyck director and violinist Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz. Sten Isachsen was the recording engineer and Riccio Bryce was on piano. 

“It sounds like you’re in your house putting up Christmas decorations,” Riccio Bryce said. “It’s not big and dramatic, it’s very humble but I think it’s very evocative.”

The crew spent two days in late September recording the album at St. Luke’s. Riccio Bryce was delighted to have the support of Father Dominic Isopo, pastor of St. Luke’s, for the project and the use of the church space, which Riccio Bryce wanted for its tremendous acoustics. 

“You don’t necessarily notice it on a regular basis but when it comes time for our Summer Music Festival or our annual Christmas Concert, you can hear it and you think, ‘My God!  It sounds like Carnegie Hall!’ ”

The music director was inspired to write a Christmas album for her grandchildren, that would also serve as a piece of herself she could leave behind.

“I think it has to do with my little granddaughter, Eloise,” Riccio Bryce said. A grandmother of three, Riccio Bryce said her latest grandchild, Eloise, came as a surprise in the height of the pandemic. “Her appearance made me feel that life goes on no matter what. And it made me feel the strength and courage of life. I wanted to leave something for my grandkids, but I would love to recreate what Christmas sounds like to me, in good times and bad.”

A graduate of Amsterdam High and Manhattanville College, Riccio Bryce grew up playing piano with her three sisters. After college, she moved to London where she performed and worked in theater and music. Her family later moved back to Amsterdam, where she produced “Hearts of Fire” in 1990, a musical about the 300th anniversary of the Schenectady Massacre. 

In 2001, Riccio Bryce composed “The Amsterdam Oratorio,” 16 songs dedicated to different aspects of life in the Amsterdam area and other major works such as, “Mother, I’m Here,” and “Swan Song.”

Since joining St. Luke’s, Riccio Bryce established the parish’s Summer Concert Series, a weekly summer series where local musicians accompany Riccio Bryce at Mass on the weekends, and the St. Luke’s Christmas Concert, which is scheduled this year for Dec. 17.

Riccio Bryce has never described herself as “a stayer” for jobs, but St. Luke’s was an exception: “The second I entered that place … it called to me,” she said. “From that organ bench, I’ve seen such joy and such sorrow, and I’m very proud of how my music has accompanied those moments.”

Riccio Bryce hopes that her album will offer hope and joy to listeners this holiday season.

“I hope that listeners hear what I tried to put into it, which is the triumph of the birth of a baby,” Riccio Bryce said. “No matter what you believe, or how firmly you’re faith-filled or not, (this is about) eternal love in the darkness and how it never will fail us. And how it will be here every Dec. 25th.”

Riccio Bryce and musicians from “Remember Me, Remember You” will be performing at the annual St. Luke’s Christmas Concert on Dec. 17. The event starts at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Copies of “Remember Me, Remember You” are $10 apiece and can be purchased at the Amsterdam Library or by sending a check for $12 to Riccio Bryce at P.O. Box 66, N.Y., Amsterdam, 12010. The CD is also streaming on Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, iTunes and YouTube.

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