What an extraordinary gift it was to conduct and record my music with the CSULB Bob Cole Chamber Choir this April.
They sang their faces off!
I couldn’t be more proud of my alma mater nor more grateful for Dr. Jonathan Talberg, my teacher, mentor, and lifelong friend.
Composition
Composer’s bliss
This is me in ecstasy, standing up to congratulate the Los Angeles Master Chorale after they world premiered my Song of Significance. This work and this program were very personal to me, and I’m so privileged to be commissioned for this work and included on a concert with J.S. Bach and the terribly neglected Margaret Bonds. It was all curated by artistic director Grant Gershon and pianist/radio host/champion for Black composers Lara Downes, and the whole concert was very inspiring. The San Francisco Classical Voice seems to agree, with many good things to say about the program with a focus on the Bonds works, and a nice shout-out to Song of Significance for “masterful choral orchestration, romantic and lush“. (I’ll take it!)
Conducting
Coming this weekend
The Harvard-Westlake choirs have returned from England wreathed in glory, and they’ll wrap up that victory with their annual spring concert this Saturday at the campus’ Rugby Auditorium. I’ll be conducting my composition, “Can You See”, plus music from the musical “The Secret Garden”, and lots more. Admission is free!
Singing
Soundcloud Song of the Month
From the Stone Age
Written and performed by Zanaida Stewart Robles
I had a chance to sit down at home this month and record a demo of my piece “From the Stone Age” for SSAA choir, piano, cello, and flute. Text is by Alice Corbin Henderson (pictured). More about Alice below.
Poet Alice Corbin Henderson (1881-1949) was known for her activism related to Indigenous rights and environmental conservation. This 8-minute musical setting of Henderson’s poetry tells the story of a stone once carved in the semblance of a god. Over time, its surfaces are smoothed by the elements to reveal a beautiful resilience. Gradually, it becomes more beautiful and less rigid until its original form is unrecognizable and irrelevant. With a soaring soprano solo and moderately challenging harmonies and counterpoint, this work for treble choir, piano, cello, and flute offers singers a chance to explore time, the cosmos, and transformation through the embodiment of a stone.
For Fun
Performing at Gloucester Cathedral in England with the Harvard-Westlake choirs
Ollivander in glory
Ollie and Archie with a new favorite box
Ollie’s tooth
“What?”
Happy spring, everyone!
This post was originally released as one of Zanaida’s monthly newsletters, April 25 2024
