Michael Fausto conducts the Neighborhood chorus with me singing “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me” arranged by Moses Hogan. I also get to sit in the soprano section while Michael conducts the “Kyrie” from Mozart’s Requiem.
Gonna be fun!!
Conducting
On Wednesday, October 16, I conducted the Harvard-Westlake Chamber Singers at the Riverside City College High School Choral Festival. Singing music by Williametta Spencer, Christopher Wong, and Ralph Vaughn Williams, these young singers were terrific!
For Fun
Woke up from a nap with cats all over me!
Me, starstruck with composer Frank Ticheli after conducting his “Earth Song” at Neighborhood Church last month.
There are so many institutions and organizations that are a blessing to my life. Some have been blessing my life for decades! Besides the pride and joy I feel to be employed at Neighborhood UU Church Pasadena and Harvard-Westlake School, I was happy to reconnect with friends in the George Robert Garner III branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians during a recent branch meeting via Zoom. Watching my freshman daughter perform as a soloist during the Beach Cafe at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSULB was thrilling not only because my kid was brilliant (!), but because of all the familiar faces and pathways and buildings I got to enjoy at my alma mater.
This fall, I’ll reconnect with friends from the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the California Choral Directors Association through various projects and performances. Organizations like Tonality, Street Symphony, USC Thornton School of Music, The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, All Saints Church Pasadena, The San Gabriel Valley Choral Company, and more – these special organizations and institutions with which I’ve been affiliated are never far from my heart.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the ups and downs organizations and institutions must endure. No organization is perfect, and there are times when I feel let down by them. Still, I value the vision and purpose of these institutions. I recognize the ways in which I have benefitted from their existence, and I want to give back. I can’t participate in everything nor do I have a ton of volunteer hours or money. But I’ll try to show up when I can and give a little money here and there whenever possible.
This is how I can live out my gratitude.
Favorites
I recently realized that Dr. Adolphus Hailstork is my favorite Black composer! It feels really good to have fallen in love with this composer simply from just being exposed to his music more and more on the radio and on social media. Dr. Hailstork celebrated his 80th birthday this year! Here’s my current favorite piece of his, sung by one of my favorite ensembles:
Shout For Joy by Adolphus Hailstork:
The release of my first commercial single, “Ecstatic Expectancy”!!
On Monday September 23, my choral piece Ecstatic Expectancy was released on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Instagram/Facebook, TikTok & other ByteDance stores, YouTube Music, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, Tidal, iHeartRadio, Claro Música, Saavn, Boomplay, Anghami, NetEase, Tencent, Qobuz, Joox, Kuack Media, Adaptr, Flo, and MediaNet.
Look for Ecstatic Expectancy wherever you listen to music, and let me know where you were able to find it! My first commercially released album is soon to follow, too, so stay tuned!
For Fun
Conducting the Neighborhood Chorus for Ingathering/Water Communion Sunday, September 8
My office at school (for which I am grateful!) sometimes feels like a sad closet with a lame window. So I created some sunshine to brighten it up.
Did you know you can swim, fish, and go kayaking in the Los Angeles River? Last month, I had the best time kayaking on the water in this very picture. Can you imagine me in a kayak, paddling down that sliver of water in this picture!?! I’m planning to go kayaking one more time before LA River Kayak Safari closes for the season on September 30.
Sexy Archie
Ollie looking down on us all
Originally published as part of Zanaida’s September 2024 newsletter
I’m excited to get back to making music with my choirs at school and at church this week, but it’s hot out here in SoCal! Don’t be deceived by the pumpkin spice lattes and halloween decor showing up in stores— summer is still with us.
As for me, I kinda like the heat, but I’m praying for a mild fire season this year. Be careful out there.
The Arid Land by Lynn Riggs
There will be willows plunging Their bloodless roots in air And the hard crooked flying Of buzzards circled there.
About the treeless wastes No sand may ever heap With water, nothing will run And nothing creep.
Arid, desolate, defiant Under its iron band Of sky, we yet may love This so sunny land.
Composition
Not gonna lie: I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment, but looking forward to some extra composing time afforded by the upcoming Labor Day holiday… What will you do with yours?
Conducting
As the Director of Music at Neighborhood UU Church Pasadena, I cordially invite you to join our Neighborhood Church Music Ensembles this fall!
Soundcloud Song of the Month
Magnificat
by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Memories of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Singers from 2022 – what a joy it was to rehearse and perform with this group! Here’s the Coleridge-Taylor Magnificat from that concert.
Listen to Magnificat by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor by Zanaida Stewart Robles on #SoundCloud:
Lately, I’ve been reading and watching stories about apocalypses and dystopias. Some recently-watched films and TV series include “The Last of Us,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Fallout.” Also feeding the fires of my apocalyptic musings are the following 3 books: “This is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone, “A Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick” by Zora Neale Hurston, and “The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On” by Franny Choi. Even after what seems like annihilation, life and love find a way of continuing, in some form or another, even in post-apocalyptic times.
I asked Perplexity for a definition. Here’s what it said:
“An apocalypse refers to a revelation or disclosure of great importance, often involving the end of the world or a catastrophic event. The term originates from the Ancient Greek word “apokálupsis,” meaning revelation…It’s important to note that while “apocalypse” is often associated with destruction, its original meaning emphasizes revelation and disclosure, which may or may not involve catastrophic events.” I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s no such thing as THE apocalypse. But our world(s) – what ever we define as our world – keep ending over and over again, everywhere, at different times and in different places. We’ve already known massive apocalypses that affect millions over decades and apocalypses that inevitably and utterly destroy us, irrevokably changing each of us from the inside out…apparently just like an apocalypse is supposed to. It’s inevitable.
Isn’t apocalypse the nature of our existance? Isn’t that why today is so SO precious? Because annihilation is inevitable? Because change and evolution and death and new life and new days are inevitable? Though it’s unbareable at times, I accept that I’m living in a time of apocalypse and that a new day is on the horizon, for better and/or for worse, how ever we define “better” or “worse.” Things may get weird and awful and scary going forward, but it will get beautiful, too. We’re truly gonna be okay. It’s inevitable.
Composition
I just finished my commission for the 2025 ACDA National 11-12th Grade SATB Honor Choir. With poetry by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, it’s an up-tempo piece dealing with perseverance and hope. I think it’s gonna be hella-fun to sing! Can’t wait for the premiere in March 2025 at the ACDA National Conference in Dallas, TX.
Preparing to conduct 5 movements from Shawn Kirchner’s glorious “Songs of Ascent” for this year’s ZSR Summer Choir Intensive has been a rich and humbling experience. The performance will happen on 8/11 as part of the 10am service at Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena.
Singing
Woohoo! On Saturday 8/10, I’m singing in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour happening at the Shrine Auditorium.
by Maurice Duruflé, sung by Zanaida Stewart Robles
Ah, memories of the pandemic! I smiled as I recently listened to some of the first recordings I ever posted. I was particularly tickled with the recording of the Duruflé “Pie Jesu” I made with my dear friend and collaborator Wells Leng. I kinda love what we came up with.
I recently came across this old flyer – what a blast from the past! In the summer of 2011 during my USC days, I collaborated with my friend Seth Houston to conduct a bunch of new music, including Dale Trumbore’s “Sing to the Lord,” the recording of which occasionally gets played on Sunday mornings during Brian Lauritzen’s “A Joyful Noise” program on Classical California KUSC 91.5FM.
Summer vibes at home
A tale of 2 kitties
Ollie visiting the Ivory Tower as we watched “The Never Ending Story”
After I specifically forbade Archie from stepping on my pillow, getting cat hair all over it.
Please check out my website, which now lives at a very easy-to-remember address!
zanaida.com
(For those of you reading this from the blog, you’re already here! Both zanaida.com and zanaidarobles.com will now get you to the good stuff. Thanks for visiting!)
I’m somewhere in between Juneteenth and Independence Day. I feel fiercely American. I feel fiercely Black. Balancing various aspects of my identity is challenging. While I’m finally proud of who I am and where I come from, I am still learning to live authentically and humbly in community with other Americans who are both the same and different from me. In other words, I’m still trying to “do the work.” I inhabit creative spheres where ADEIB and social justice are at the forefront of our consciouness – where we often talk about “doing the work,” which means…well what does it mean??
I asked Perplexity, a conversational search engine, to define “doing the work.” Here’s what it said:
“The phrase “doing the work” is often used in personal development, professional growth, and social justice contexts. It generally refers to the process of putting in effort, time, and energy to achieve a goal, improve oneself, or address important issues…The key aspect of ‘doing the work’ is that it often involves challenging oneself, facing uncomfortable truths, and making consistent efforts over time. It’s about taking active steps towards growth and improvement rather than passively hoping for change. This phrase emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and commitment in achieving meaningful progress in various aspects of life.”
Welp…there you have it.
Soundcloud Song of the Month
Veni Sancte Spiritus
by Zanaida Stewart Robles
I guess you could call it my best seller! Listen to Veni Sancte Spiritus by on #SoundCloud
My piece “Once I filled My Hand With Mist” in the Out From the Shadows Series with Gentry Publications, edited by Marques L. A. Garrett and James Green, is here!
Are you a singer aged 15+? Take part in an intergenerational summer choir experience that will: ✨ Sharpen your choral skills ✨ Serve your community ✨ Rediscover your love for choral music ✨ Engage spiritually and culturally through music
FEATURING: Musical Selections from “Songs of Ascent” by Shawn Kirchner
Program Fee: $100 (Suggested Donation) Proceeds benefit Neighborhood Church Music Programs
📅 Dates:
Aug 5, 6, 7, & 8: 7:15 – 9:15 PM Piano Rehearsals Aug 10: 10 AM – 12:30 PM Dress Rehearsal Aug 11: 9 AM CALL, 10 AM Church Service 📍 Performance Location: Neighborhood UU Church 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91103
