Author: Shelly Edwards

Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers logo under dramatic stage lights with text announcing the group is officially not-for-profit

ZANAIDA STEWART ROBLES SINGERS

We’re now an official not-for-profit organization!!

Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers creates intergenerational artistic experiences by inspiring and cultivating cultural, intellectual, and spiritual engagement through choral music. 

The ZSR Singers Summer Choir Intensive
is happening August 4-10 at
Neighborhood UU Church, Pasadena.
Cost is $100 per person.
Ages 16+
Visit www.zanaidarobles.com to register or for more info.
Zanaida Stewart Robles conducts a diverse choir and string ensemble in performance at Neighborhood UU Church, with colorful stoles and a pipe organ in the background.

Compositions

Exterior view of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis in Missouri, featuring Romanesque architecture, green-tiled domes, and twin towers against a cloudy sky.

New work headed for St. Louis

I just submitted the manuscript for my new setting of O Magnum Mysterium for soprano and organ. The work was commissioned the American Guild of Organists and will be premiered next year at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis during the 2026 AGO National Convention.

Singing

Vocal soloist performs with choir, conductor, and chamber ensemble on stage during a concert, with projected text above honoring Ahmaud Arbery.

Photo by Mercy Luna

Saturday, May 24 was a night of powerful choral singing at the Wallis Theater in Beverly Hills. I was honored to be a soloist with the GRAMMY Award-winning group Tonality in the premiere performance of Alexander Lloyd Blake’s new work entitled Running From, Running To: A Musical Reflection on Ahmaud Arbery.

Read more about this powerful work in these news features in the LA Times and the LA Sentinel

Travel

My HW choral students performed Haydn’s Paukenmesse at Carnegie Hall earlier this month. Though I didn’t conduct the performance myself, it was incredibly rewarding to hear the singers rave about their experience and to see them dance together with joy and pride over their accomplishments. Dr. Julie Yu-Oppenheim was efficient, expressive, and hilarious in rehearsal. And she was masterful on the podium in performance. My students loved her! When we weren’t in rehearsal, we got to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.

For Fun

Group of colleagues enjoying an outdoor dinner at a long marble table at a restaurant, smiling and relaxed in the evening sunlight with pizza and drinks.

We had a fun summer-time meet-up with members of the Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA) and composers from the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA)

Passengers smiling and interacting with a calm tabby cat sitting on someone’s lap during a flight, capturing a joyful moment aboard a commercial airplane.

I sat next to a kitten on the plane to New York!

Happy summer travels

(or staycays), everyone!

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TODAY, MAY 25, IS MY 46th BIRTHDAY!!

While I’m celebrating my own journey today, I want to send a little encouragement your way, too. May this season of your life bring unexpected kindness, meaningful change, and reasons to smile. We’re all in this together, and I’m so grateful for the connection.

Zanaida in red and gold graduation gown smiling with two children at a university commencement ceremony, surrounded by a crowd of graduates and family.

Celebrating 10 years as a DMA

I wanted to be a “doctor of music” ever since I was 8 years old. In December 2014, after more than 4 long years, I graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. I walked in the Thornton graduation ceremony in May 2015. Here’s a memory of me with my daughters on that special day. I think 8-year-old me would be amazed!

Conducting

Registration starts in just a few days!

Sign up to be part of our Summer Intensive with the ZSR Singers — we’re singing Carmina Burana this year!

Flyer for the Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers summer choir intensive featuring ‘Carmina Burana.’ Program begins August 2025 in Pasadena. Registration opens June 1, 2025.
Check us out on Facebook

For Fun

Woman playfully posing at a Roland keyboard during a rehearsal with sheet music, surrounded by fellow musicians preparing for a performance in a room with red stage curtains.

Come see the Frostig School community production of “Bye Bye Birdie” on May 29, 30, 31 at 7pm and June 1 at 2pm at the Frostig School in Pasadena. I’m playing in the band!

Close-up of feet wearing beaded, multicolored sandals with double buckle straps and coral pink toenail polish on a wooden floor with white fringe rug visible in corner.

Spring pedicure with Mother’s Day shoes

Smiling woman holding the book ‘Choral Repertoire by Women Composers’ in a cozy study space, highlighting contributions of female composers in choral music history.

Check out this new textbook. I’m on page 592!

Close-up of a woman leaning in affectionately toward a relaxed tabby cat on a bed with soft blankets, capturing a tender moment of connection and comfort.

In love with my cat

What’s on your mind?

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A person sitting on a bench in a forest clearing, looking out at the bright sky through tall trees.

Mindfulness

I learned a new way to think about mindfulness from watching a German dark comedy series on Netflix this month. Mindfulness is when what’s happening in your mind matches whats happening with your body. 

I guess the opposite of being mindful is being mindless.

Also, the opposite of multi-tasking is single-tasking. It takes mindfulness to do a single task. So then, what if multi-tasking is a form of mindlessness.

I’ve noticed how much happier and less anxious I am when I’m successfully exercising mindfulness and single-tasking. My brain feels less like a sieve. I have a better chance of remembering all the names of the singers in my choir when I practice mindfulness (I’m frequently embarrassed by blanking out on the names of students and adults I’ve known for years!). 

It’s a struggle. 

How easily distracted I am.
And how stubborn I am about feeling the need to multi-task. 

I don’t need to do it all, and I don’t need to do it (whatever “it” is) right now.

Sometimes, “now” is the time I take to do just one thing with my whole mind and body. I’m trying to create that “now” every day.

Surgery update:  Success!

Thank you all so much for your warm wishes and support as I recovered from abdominal surgery. My surgeon says I should still avoid heavy lifting for a couple more weeks, but I got the green light to ride roller coasters. See you on Ghost Rider at Knott’s Berry Farm!

Conducting

Summer is on its way.
Get ready to sing 
Carmina Burana with me!

Harvard-Westlake Spring Choral Concert

Composition

The Summit is Nigh
Now Available!
Here’s a sample:

For Fun

Practicing mindfulness while on a spontaneous walk through the lovely CalTech campus

Curled up in the bed with Archie on my feet

What’s on your mind?

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Overhead shot of various mugs filled with different types of coffee and cocoa drinks, from dark black coffee to creamy lattes.

MEET UP

I would like a chance to meet up with you in small groups this summer so we can celebrate and support each other. Let me know if there’s a spot near you (within Los Angeles County) that would be a great place to meet up for coffee or a beer together.

ACDA Report

What was I doing at the 2025 ACDA National Conference, March 18-22? (See pics below…)

1. Went to Bent-But-Not-Broken 3.5 – a whole conference within a conference!

2. Hosted a Black Diaspora Immersion Choir session

3. Witnessed the inaugural National HS Vocal Jazz Honor Choir performance – my HW student was one of 16 high schoolers chosen from across the country.

4. Was a Music in Worship panelist with some of the most inspiring colleagues I’ve ever worked with.

5. Met fans and friends at a MusicSpoke Composer meet-n-greet session

6. Saw a concert that was so impossibly good, it redefined the meaning of choral excellence 

7. Had dinner and drinks with fabulous friends

8. Went to more great concerts

9. Hugged dear friends and mentors, sang, and took pictures at the “Cookout” Black diaspora reception

10. Laughed my ass off at the CSULB reception

11. More amazing concerts

12. Sang the solo on my piece “Truth” during the National Concert series reading session

13. Conducted my piece “Karitas á Four” during the MusicSpoke reading session

14. Conducted my piece “Veni Sancte Spiritus” for the Music in Worship Deep Dive experience

15. Participated as a reader for the Music in Worship service

16. Heard world premieres of two of my works: “Dedication” with the 8-10th grade National SSAA Honor Choir and “The Summit in Nigh” with the 11-12th grade SATB National Honor Choir.

17. One last incredible concert!

For Fun

Watching Carmina Burana at Disney Hall with Felicity

Curled up kitty cuteness

Who will you connect with today?

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