Condoleezza Rice performs for the Queen. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a piano recital for the Queen on Tuesday during what could be her final visit to Buckingham Palace as the nation’s top diplomat. Rice performed music by Johannes Brahms accompanied on violin by Louise Shackleton, the wife of David Miliband, the foreign secretary. Three members of the London Symphony Orchestra backed the high-profile duo. Afterward, the Queen presented Rice with a recording of the performance as a gift. America’s most senior diplomat is a classically trained pianist who had expressed a wish to play at the palace. She was making her final trip to Britain before heading to India.