San Mateo County jail inmates sing holiday classics

By Kory Tran

Every December, Christmas choirs across the country sing holiday
classics such as “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Silent
Night.”

On Thursday, 18 men clad in orange showed they could vocalize
with the best of them.

The men’s choir, part of the Choices rehabilitation program
at Redwood City’s Maguire Correctional Facility, put on its 14th
annual Christmas concert. The women’s choir will hold its 16th
annual concert next week.

For the past several months, inmates at Choices have been
preparing for this year’s holiday concert. They held singing
auditions, coached one another and even made decorations in
anticipation of the event.

“The guys do this for one reason, and that is to give back to
the community that they have taken from,” said Shirley Lamarr,
program services manager of Choices. “They practice for at least
two months with no music and no professionals to help. Just them
helping each other to sing like angels.”

Lamarr said she auditions the inmates at San Mateo County jail
every year in September or October. The best singer is chosen as
the choir master, who then leads the rest of the rehearsals.

This year’s choir master was Lavelle McKinney, who studied music
at The Juilliard School in New York City, according to Lamarr. The
choir practiced at least twice a week leading up to the event.

On Thursday, the sixth-floor “pod” of the jail, where the men’s
Choices program is located, was decorated with painted paper
wreaths. Spiced cider was served along with an abundance of
traditional holiday food as well as ethnic specialties like tamales
and taquitos.