I came up with this list about 15 years ago, when my kids were little and I was in graduate school. The definitions and/or requirements for each of these tasks change from time to time, but the basic principle is this: the more consistently I complete the tasks on this list, the more likely I’ll feel peaceful, at ease, and content. Another word for this might be discipline, and discipline is a form of self-care. My chore today was mending a couch pillow – very satisfying after enduring the gaping hole and trails of stuffing for months!
As I’m writing this, I’m reflecting on the fact that I’ve done everything today except practice/play. I tend to rotate unevenly between short spurts of practicing singing, piano, conducting, flute, yoga, and video games – a rotation which works for me. But lately, practicing anything has been tough. Practice involves some disappointment and failure before there’s progress – hard to bare in difficult times. Maybe I keep forgetting the “play” part – that’s the part that makes life fun and bearable.
May our daily disciplines be a source of peace, ease, and fun in difficult times.
This just in!
I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been selected as a recipient of CSULB’s “49 Under 49” award. What an extraordinary honor! See link below to find out more about the history and process of this award.
We each are a miracle. Our gathering together is a miracle. And we are each other’s gifts.
My favorite part of the holiday season happens within the first 10-15 days after Thanksgiving, when Christmas lights are just starting to appear on houses. The sparkle and splendor of the season feel new and long-awaited. That’s when the first holiday parties start, the baked goods are fresh, and the potlucks feature the first fruits of our holiday spirit. Because many students have finals, juries, and projects due the week before winter break, schools put on their holiday concerts and festivals as soon as possible after Thanksgiving. Teachers have what feels like NO TIME AT ALL to build back the rehearsal momentum lost from the Thanksgiving break, and must immediately produce the most highly anticipated (and mandatory) performances of the year. Students learn the meaning of grace and hope as they succeed despite their frequent tardiness, unexpected absences, and lack of preparation, sometimes due to illness and often due to severe overwhelm due to all their other social and academic obligations. It’s a time of frenzy, high stress, and anxiety, but also beauty, tenderness, nostalgia, and magic – I love it.
We each are a miracle. Our gathering together is a miracle. And we are each other’s gifts.
Around 10-15 days before Christmas, people are exhausted. Students and teachers stress over juries and finals. The decorations are starting to look boring and worn out, instead of nostalgic and precious. At this point, folks are tired of bringing and eating potluck food. The leftovers are overwhelming and unwanted. The awkward Secret Santa and “white elephant” gift exchanges are happening, whether you like it or not.
We each are a miracle. Our gathering together is a miracle. And we are each other’s gifts.
Whether I’m 10 days into the season, 10 days out from Christmas Day, or it’s the 10th day of Christmas (January 3) and I’m ready take down the Christmas tree 2 days early, I constantly long for that remarkable moment when time stops and we recognize that all the preparation, hard work, and risks we’ve taken have led us back to each other, back to being together. Concerts, shows, church services, family gatherings, parties with friends and co-workers… all our gatherings are miracles. We each are a miracle. Our gathering together is a miracle. We are each other’s gifts. I think about how this compares with the nativity story, the first Christmas: a story of traveling and toiling and risking and trying. It’s messy and painful. Think of all the waiting, the searching, the desperation and disappointment; the fear. And then… the miracle of birth in a most humble place.
Each of us was a risk that someone once took. This Christmas, may we remember…
We each are a miracle. Our gathering together is a miracle. And we are each other’s gifts.
Up Your Game Reading Session
Ready to “up your game” as a choral singer? Prepare to make connections, build musicianship skills, and be inspired. During this 3-hour session, you’ll make music with and learn from session singers, contractors, conductors, and teachers offering real-world insight and experience in the field of choral music.
Scholarships available Scores and refreshments provided Designed for Advanced Singers Ages 15+
For Fun
Pics with pianist Aron Kallay, plus my Dad, my friend Mark Hilt (formerly from Harvard-Westlake), and my friend Donna Perkins from Neighborhood Church… all at the premiere performance of my piece LA River Scenes on December 16.
Thank you to everyone who was there. It was an incredible performance!
We got a beautiful new piano for Christmas. This instrument was cherished for decades in the home of a dear friend, and it will be cherished in my own home for decades to come. (The kitties like it, too!)
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and a very Happy New Year!
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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
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.
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+
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
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
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)
