Author: Shelly Edwards

Abundance with Grace

We’re all surviving to the best of our ability. But our abilities and resources differ depending on our circumstance, our history, or our environment. Sometimes a person’s burden is not so obvious, especially in festive settings. So in the midst of both abundance and scarcity, may we strive to pay attention and speak and act graciously with each other this Thanksgiving.

NUUC Christmas Concert – December 19

Enjoy selections from Magnificat by J.S. Bach, plus traditional sing-along favorites you won’t want to miss. Guaranteed to make you smile!

Compositions

Five performances in Colorado, Dec 6-21

Internationally acclaimed guitar virtuoso, composer, and Colorado native Aaron Larget-Caplan joins Kantorei in holiday performances featuring seasonal selections written for Guitar and Choir, including the world premiere of his own Cider Meditations. We will also feature works by composer and guitarist Jeffrey Van, whose compositions gained widespread recognition through his collaborations with the renowned Dale Warland Singers. Adding to the excitement of new musical discoveries, the concert will present the world premiere of a new work by composer Zanaida Robles, commissioned by Kantorei’s own Scott Horowitz and his wife, Leah Weinberg.

Join us as we combine traditional holiday spirit with contemporary compositions, offering audiences both seasonal favorites and the excitement of hearing new works performed for the first time.

Learn More

LA River Scenes – world premiere!

December 16 in Downtown LA

LA River Scenes blends melodies I made up in my childhood and young adult years with impressions from my recent experiences with the LA River Kayak Safari tour company. The LA River Kayak Safari journey begins with a bike ride along the LA river’s edge followed by an fascinating history lesson about the Elysian River Valley and finally an exciting kayak trip down the luscious river with baby rapids and deep pools of up to 10 feet. My piece reflects the love and pride I feel for my hometown and my excitement over discovering I can go kayaking near Dodger Stadium in summer.

Photo of Aron Kallay by Elisa Ferrari

Event Details

For Fun

HALLOWEEN MEMORIES
I decided to go ahead and carve my pumpkin even though it was several days after Halloween had passed. WORTH IT!! 
CHOCOLATE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
I helped organize this year’s HW Professional Development Interdisciplinary Session “Chocolate Day!” From holding the huge alien fruit pods to tasting the difference between the bitter, slimy-yet-crunchy fresh fruit and the powdery, complex-flavored bean once the fruit was fermented and roasted; to exploring the intersections of history, art, science, and economics and finally tasting and packaging our work: making chocolate with the help of brilliant friends is fun!
I also did some research and found these two songs about chocolate that I’d never heard before:

Chocolate Sundae on a Saturday Night by Doris Day

Chocolate by Soul Patrol

Ollie and Archie, warming our hearts as they warm each other

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Historical black-and-white illustration of a woman with braided hair wearing a shawl and bow at the collar.

News From Zanaida: October 2025 Newsletter

Still celebrating Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

My good friend and colleague at Harvard-Westlake Jen Bladen wrote an amazing blog entry about my high school treble choir’s visit to Neighborhood UU Church Pasadena for our Francis Elken Watkins Harper bicentennial celebration last month. Check it out here

Celebrating the ZSR Singers

The success of the ZSR Singers Summer Choral Intensive inspired the official formation of a new non-profit organization. With help from our wonderfully supportive new board of directors and council of advisors, the ZSR Singers strives to create intergenerational artistic experiences, inspiring and cultivating cultural, intellectual, and spiritual engagement through choral music. This mission guides us to seek new and meaningful ways to deepen our engagement with the community. And as we continue to grow, we invite you to stay tuned—there’s some exciting news on the horizon!

Just announced!

I am pleased to have accepted a position as an composition instructor with the International Choral Composers Institute for summer 2026. Learn more about this amazing program by clicking this button: 

ICCI Website

Conductions & Composition

I’m conducting Neighborhood UU Chorus in a performance of my arrangement of Sage Bond’s Truth in early November! Additionally, on that day, I’m conducting There Will Be Stars by Frank Ticheli and Hold On by Jester Hairston

Sunday, November 9, 10am
Neighborhood UU Church, Pasadena
Map & Directions

For Fun

Fall trip to see my bestie Debby in Cleveland and Akron, OH.  (Also, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!)
October selfies: hooray for new clothes!
Huge, creepy dragon fly outside my front door
Seasonal decor – the spiders are back!
Archie on my pillow, surprised and dismayed I returned from Ohio

What are you celebrating?

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Hand with bright yellow nails touching the massive roots of a large old tree, looking upward into its branches.

(Very) Big Tree

Last week I had to get up early for a routine medical check-up in Glendora, not far from my home. Across the street from the medical office is a small park called Big Tree Bicentennial Park. It may be one of the smallest parks around, but it is home to one of the most enormous trees in the whole country! 

Majestic old tree with sprawling roots at Big Tree Bicentennial Park, featuring a commemorative plaque on a stone.

According to the City of Glendora’s website, “The ‘Big Tree’ was planted in the late 1880’s by Mr. Edgar J. Owens, one of Glendora’s early residents. The tree’s botanical name “Ficus Mactophylla” is commonly called Moreton Bay Fig and is named after the Moreton Bay Region of Australia where the species grows naturally.  The tree is known for its large buttress roots, helping it reach approximately 99 feet tall and 47 feet in diameter.”

Perplexity AI sources also say the tree’s extensive roots reportedly reach over 1,200 feet across the 15,000-square-foot park.

Big Tree Park in Glendora, California, with the historic tree and entrance sign visible in the foreground.
Historic plaque describing the Big Tree in Glendora, a Moreton Bay Fig planted in the late 1880s by Edgar J. Owens.

Several years ago, when I first drove by it, I had to stop the car and back up because I couldn’t believe my eyes. So this time, instead of just driving by, and since I had some extra time before work, I decided to park my car, get out, and touch its massive roots. It was so healing and spiritual, majestic and beautiful. If you’ve never seen it, I hope you get a chance to look up Big Tree Park in Glendora and check out this magnificent tree.

Conducting

On Sunday September 21, I had the enormous pleasure of conducting Bel Canto, my high school treble choir from Harvard-Westlake, as the featured guest artists at the Neighborhood UU Church Pasadena 10am service celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Francis Ellen Watkins Harper: an early Unitarian Universalist Black American writer, abolitionist, suffragist, poet, and teacher. Bel Canto sang The Crocuses by Joanna Mills and Songs for the People by Rosephanye Powell – two works featuring texts by Harper, who was born on November 24, 1825. I also conducted the Neighborhood Chorus on I Thank Thee by Demetrius Robinson with lyrics adapted from a letter Harper wrote to Harriet Beecher Stowe in appreciation of Stowe’s ground-breaking novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The entire service was an extraordinary blend of education, deep spirituality, transformative social justice work, and beautiful artistic expression. Here’s the service, which was live-streamed on Youtube:

Composition

Zanaida holding sheet music titled The Song of Significance by Zanaida Stewart Robles with text by Seth Godin, published by Hinshaw Music

The Song of Significance, the piece I wrote for the LA Master Chorale, is finally here! I jumped for joy when my printed copies arrived in the mail this week.

Open sheet music of The Song of Significance by Zanaida Stewart Robles with text by Seth Godin, showing score and composer biography.
Final page of sheet music for The Song of Significance by Zanaida Stewart Robles, published by Hinshaw Music and Hal Leonard
Learn More
Yummy crawfish boil with my Mommy
Celebrating the start of a new school year with my Harvard-Westlake friends

THREE STAGES OF OLLIE:

(Above…)
Boxed Ollie 
Ollie Disapproving of My Favorite Shoes
Ollie Demands Justice

Wishing you a spectacular fall!

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Choir performance in a church sanctuary: conductor on podium as audience applauds; singers in red stoles under a pipe organ.

August 2025 Newsletter

ZSR Singers

August 10, 2025 marked the 3rd annual Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers Choral Intensive culminating performance during the 10am service at Neighborhood UU Church. Our performance of selection from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana was one of my favorite church performances of all time! Here’s a link to the video – it’ll make you smile! Also, Felicity’s solo on “Dulcissime” toward the end of the service is just beautiful! 

Composition

Photo: Marielle Hayes Photography

Photo:  Marielle Hayes Photography

I’m so happy to have finished arranging Veni Sancte Spiritus for SSAA voices. Many thanks to Eric Tuan and the Piedmont East Bay Childrens Chorus commisdioning this work. They will premiere it on their “Making History” Concert on Saturday, March 21, 2026 in Berkeley, CA. The SSAA version of Veni Sancte Spiritus will be published in summer 2026.

Learn More About PEBCC

Conducting

My teacher and mentor Dr. Cristian Grases (pictured above left), chair of the Department of Choral and Sacred Music at USC, will play the cuatro with me as I conduct a performance of “Gloria” and “Sanctus” from Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramirez (above right) in celebration of Ingathering at Neighborhood UU Church on Sunday, September 7 at 10am. I am thrilled for our community to be blessed by Dr. Grases’s expertise in the field of Latin American choral music.

Not familiar with the cuatro?  A lovely example of this guitar-like Venezuelan instrument is pictured above, as held by Smithsonian Music.

For Fun

Summer Vibes
LA Master Chorale Artistic Director Grant Gershon imparting Carmina Burana wisdom to the ZSR Singers
Being able to cue up my own music on Spotify in my car is a dream come true!
Cats = love

Hope your summer is wrapping up beautifully!

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News from Zanaida: July 2025 Newsletter

Moonlight, Live

As you know, I serve as Director of Music at Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena, CA. Before church service began on July 13, my friend, church keyboardist and Associate Music Director Wells Leng (pictured) was playing the piano as usual. Since Debussy’s Clair de Lune (“Moonlight”) was scheduled as the prelude, Wells casually played through a few spots in the Debussy as they were preparing for the service to start. My mind was in a million other places, and I was having a tough morning due to concerns about, you know, the usual or whatever. The service began with announcements as usual. The welcome words cue the keyboardist to start the prelude.

On cue, Wells startled me with the way their posture transformed. As if they were summoning some sort of ancient, otherworldly power, they straightened their back with what seemed like intense reverence and slowly lifted their hands to play.

You know that scene from the movie Ratatouille, when the food critic is dramatically transported to his childhood with the first bite of that scrumptious meal? That was how dramatically moving the first three notes of this performance of Clair de Lune were for me.

Also, I realized something extraordinary:  I had never heard the piece played live.

In Wells’s hands, it was like hearing it in 3D – one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in my life. I’m sure the combination of pressures at home and worry for the world and childhood nostalgia and peri-menopausal hormones were all at work. But something in me broke while I listened to Wells play Clair de Lune. I have never wept in church like I wept when they played that piece that morning.

It was the best part of my whole day.

Conducting

What was that, Carl?

The Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers Summer Choir Intensive starts in less than 2 weeks! I can’t wait to dive into Carmina Burana with our singers, anticipating how powerful it will be to perform it during the 10am Sunday morning service at Neighborhood UU Church Pasadena on August 10. In the meantime, I offer you a link to my favorite “misheard lyrics” version of the famous “O Fortuna” chorus. 

Here’s “Oh Four Tuna”:

Singing

During church on July 20, I dusted off my French art song chops and sang Villanelle by Eva Dell’Acqua and Chanson Triste by Henry Duparc. I made some mistakes, but I had fun and it felt good to explore those melodies again. Also, making music with pianist Dr. Katie Eames is always a special treat! Here’s a link to a video of the service. My songs happen around 18:30 and 25:30.

Composition

My piece, Veni Sancte Spiritus, continues to strike a chord with choirs all over the country. Many thanks to Kaleb Hilton and the choir of Kentucky Governor School for the Arts for learning this piece and inviting me to Zoom with them in preparation for their performance. Check out this piece and more on my album of sacred choral works titled Ecstatic Expectancy.

Listen on Spotify
Purchase on Amazon

For Fun

Playing instrumental music with my friend and fellow singer Dabney Ross Jones was a blast!

Anyone else want to play music with me just for fun? Let me know.

First Cherry Cobbler

My first cherry cobbler turned out perfectly.

Kayaking

Yay, kayaking time!

Archie: “Can’t you find another way down?”

Ollie the Angel

Ollie – the angel of tripping hazzards.

Keep in touch!

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