We’re in full swing! The Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers are gearing up for our Summer Choral Intensive that starts in early August (there’s still time to sign up!), I have commissions in the works, and I’ve been traveling a bit. As a teacher, summer is always a time of renewal and contemplation, and this year is no different.
Below, you’ll see bits of the biggest projects coming up. It’s going to be a big new season, this 2023-24! More soon…
Conducting
I’ll be conducting a special service at Neighborhood Church on Sunday, August 13… but here’s the project that leads up to it. We’d love to have you join us!
Be sure to check out the new “ZSR Singers” page on my website. We’ll continue to post updates there, as well as on the Facebook group for this growing community. Hope to see you there!
Join us in August for our first Summer Choral Intensive with the newly-formed Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers! There will be beautiful music and a US premiere of my “Blühende Bäume”, and our venue at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena is just gorgeous. It’s a chance to work on your choral chops, rediscover the joy of singing together, and perform with a live string ensemble.
We’re particularly in need of tenors and basses, but all are welcome. If the program fee is the only thing holding you back, please contact me, and let’s talk.
Details are in the flyer above, or click the button below to go straight to the registration page.
To keep an eye on what this amazing new ensemble is doing, you can also join our Facebook group for the ZSR Singers, and be sure to follow us on Instagram!
With a new commission for the Los Angeles Master Chorale this season, it’s going to be a busy year. Their concerts often sell out, so be sure to grab your seats early for April 6th or 7th, 2024. Here’s the basic info, and you can get tickets and details on their website.
When I was a doctoral student at the USC Thornton School of Music, I was regularly faced with disappointments and challenges that felt too heavy to bear. I often felt like I had nothing intelligent to “say” with my weak gestural skills and my lack of practical knowledge. My classmates seemed so brilliant and knowledgeable already. I felt embarrassed and awkward. I wanted to scream, to give up, to run away.
One day, I felt so woefully ignorant in Choral Literature class that I thought to myself, “Since I don’t feel like I have anything intelligent to add, I wonder if I can come up with something intelligent to ASK. What’s missing from the conversation? Who’s missing from the table? What details might be missing from the story? What’s missing from what they’re trying to teach me?”
I realized that contributing good questions could be more valuable than knowing the answers. I didn’t want to ask questions just so I could get answers right on tests. I wanted to ask questions that made me care more about what I was studying. So, I got really good at asking questions, and this is probably the most important skill I learned from my time as a doctoral student.
From the lens of curiosity, things started to change. One of the simplest, most important questions I learned to ask in times of conflict is “What would it take?” This was a question I learned to get good at answering by myself – answering this question first prevented me from making mistakes and asking lame questions out loud. It prevented me from engaging in useless busy work and futile arguments. And it helped me realize that some tasks and assignments that SEEMED useless were actually the answer the question.
“What would it take for me to feel better?”
“What would it take to get there?”
“What would it take for them to give me what I want?”
Then, if necessary, I could ask these questions of friends, teachers, fellow stakeholders, and even opponents. Asking “what would it take” usually yielded immediate and astonishing results. This question leads to another great question:
“Do the benefits of pursuing and attaining this outweigh the drawbacks?”
The wonderful thing about the “benefits vs. drawbacks” questions is that there’s never a wrong answer – the answer must only be right for the person answering, and the response is almost always either “yes” or “no.” The truth is, that answer can also change depending on the circumstances. How freeing this feels to me! And answering this question can lead to making lists of benefits and drawbacks, which can provide enough clarity to get back on track after having drifted into a low-visibility or seemingly hopeless situation.
So what are we curious about? What’s missing from the story? Who’s missing from the table? What do we want/need most right now? What will it take? Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?
Are we curious?
Composing
You guys!! Having my carol “Now the Rejoicing” included in the historic Oxford “Carols for Choirs 6” collection is truly an honor and a dream come true for me! This anthology series is legendary in the choral world, and it’s such a thrill to have this piece selected by Bob Chilcott, David Hill and Oxford University Press. It’s available from J.W. Pepper if you’re looking to add some new rep to your Christmas programs…
Join us in August for our first Summer Choral Intensive with the newly-formed Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers! There will be beautiful music and a US premiere of my “Blühende Bäume”, and our venue at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena is just gorgeous. It’s a chance to work on your choral chops, rediscover the joy of singing together, and perform with a live string ensemble.
We’re particularly in need of tenors and basses, but all are welcome. If the program fee is the only thing holding you back, please contact me, and let’s talk.
Details are in the flyer above, or click the button below to go straight to the registration page.
To keep an eye on what this amazing new ensemble is doing, you can also join our Facebook group for the ZSR Singers, and be sure to follow us on Instagram!
Here’s a little visual tour of what I’ve been up to this month — it’s been busy! Pictured:
High School Scholarship Competition of the Georgia Laster Association of Music, an affiliate of the National Association of Negro Musicians (NAMN). So proud of my daughter who won second place, singing “Del Cabello Mas Sutil” by Fernando Obradors.
Juneteenth dress I wore all weekend long!
Silly and sparkly before the choir concert at Neighborhood Church
Spending time talking shop with my composition buddy, the amazing Amy Gordon
Ollie’s Corner
Ollivander wears many hats: here he is as fashion model, guard kitty and office assistant!
Birthdays are funny things, and can even mean something new every year. But I offer the following in celebration this month:
Composing
My Kwanzaa Song “Ujima” is being included in a new social justice songbook created by Philadelphia-based choir, Singing City. It will be performed on Tuesday, May 30th at 7:30 pm.
I’m elated to share that on June 4 at Zipper Concert Hall, VOX Femina Los Angeles will present the world premiere performance of my arrangement of “LIft Every Voice and Sing” for treble voices.
Join me on Zoom on Wednesday, June 7 at 7pm for a watch party, celebrating our trip to New York and viewing our entire performance at Carnegie Hall where I conduct “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.” Contact Zanaida to be added to the guest list.
In honor of Juneteenth, I’m singing “A Real Slow Drag” from Scot Joplin’s opera Treemonisha during the 10am service on Sunday June 18, at Neighborhood UU Church, Pasadena. Please join us!
1. Making music with friends, students, and colleagues was, is, and will always be the thing that most deeply nourishes my soul.
2. There is still so much work to do to bring the music of underrepresented and marginalized composers into our collective consciousness. I’m not alone in this work, and I’m not the only one who can stand in front.
3. I discovered some new limits and boundaries for myself. Managing the tour logistics for multiple separate ensembles, while preparing and conducting a major work is not something I would do again or recommend. And while I ultimately enjoyed myself, it turns out I can only stand New York for a few days at a time.
4. Bottom line: it was totally worth it!! I couldn’t be more proud of our work. My life and the lives of our singers and instrumentalists are forever changed for the better thanks to this monumental experience. I’m certain that our friends Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Jane Schoolcraft, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow are having a beer together, smoking pipes, and smiling down on us from heaven.
Back Home
I’m creating spaces that inspire me and fill me with great memories and good vibes. My office where I teach is essentially the size of a closet. It can be a suffocating little space. But creating a little art wall inside has turned this tiny hole into a little sanctuary of delight. It’s a work in progress, but I love the direction in which it’s headed. I’d love to add a few more small artworks to the wall above my desk.
Felted landscape by my dear friend Debra PenberthyThree paintings by my conducting teacher, Paul A. Smith
Painting by Alberto Scarabattoli, purchased from his studio while on tour in Assisi, Italy
Documenting the finished product
Singing
I like listening to this little demo I made not too long ago:
I’m looking forward to more session work this summer. And I’m learning some new solo repertoire to perform in church next season!
Conducting
In May at Neighborhood Church, I’m conducting my setting of “Sanctus,” Bobby McFerrin’s “23rd Psalm,” and John Kimball’s “A Quiet Stream.”
Conducting my own music has always been a challenge for me. I find that even though I know my stuff by heart, the conducting gesture doesn’t come automatically or easily. So I’m practicing conducting some of my larger works in anticipation of performing them with the California Coleridge-Taylor Singers this summer. Stay tuned!
Composing
My piece “Veni Sancte Spiritus” is being performed by more than 600 young singers from across Southern California at the LAMC High School Choral Festival on Friday, April 28 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
LAMC artistic director Grant Gershon rehearsing with hundreds of high school students
New publications
I’m excited to share that my arrangement of “His Eye Is On the Sparrow” by Charles Gabriel is being released by Hal Leonard:
In honor of spring’s arrival, I present my piece “Blühende Bäume” (Blossoming Trees) for SSATBB choir and strings, performed by Neue Kammer Leipzig. Coming soon to MusicSpoke!
Listen to Blühende Bäume by Zanaida Robles on #SoundCloud:
Regular readers know that I’m taking a big group of singers to New York and conducting a concert at Carnegie Hall on March 28. Please send us good vibes from wherever you are, and we’ll give you a full report in the next issue! For now, here’s more about the project:
Are you in New York? Please join us!
Let My Love Be Heard feat. Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast Tuesday, March 28 at 8PM Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall
This compelling program features a commissioned work, Truth, by indigenous artist Sage Bond and arranged by Zanaida Robles. It asks urgent questions about who is seen and heard, historically and into the present day.
This is the moment I realized, “I can’t believe I’m really taking these 94 high school musicians to New York next week!”
For Fun
Visiting with the USC Chamber Singers — They sound great on my setting of Psalm 61!
