Oh, Canada!

The Harvard-Westlake Canadian Choir Tour of 2018 was a great success! Not only did we survive the cold, but we sang well and we had fun. It was wonderful to work with Dr. Jean-Sébastien Vallée at McGill University in Montreal. And Quebec City is definitely on my list of special places to which I hope to return someday.
The townsfolk who attended our concert at the the church of Cap-Santé, were as loving and as generous as they could possibly be. We felt deeply appreciated, especially after our encore performance of Kurt Carr‘s “In the Sanctuary,” when one boisterous Canadian with a handlebar moustache shouted,
“You all make America great again!”
February 25, 2018 Zanaida 0

Chicken + friendship = gratitude

Just now, they were out of rotisserie chicken at the store. Another woman was also looking for chicken. When all we found where the chicken should be was some sad-looking overpriced meatloaf, we wished each other luck and I thought about getting the meatloaf. I was about to give up and leave when I heard her say, “Hey! They’re packing up fresh chickens right now!” I hurried over. As the deli staff handed us both our hot ‘n ready chickens, I thanked my fellow shopper for getting my attention before I walked out. Then she said, “Friends don’t let friends buy the meatloaf.”

Chicken in hand, I walked outside in the pouring rain, and that’s when it all hit me like a ton of bricks:

Rev. Zelda is gone.
Violence is real.
Diseases are devastating.
Division is everywhere.
Depression/anxiety is such a draining condition.
I can’t help everyone. Sometimes I can’t help anyone.
I can’t even help myself!

Rain is pouring everywhere. Tears blur my vision. Walking in this wet parking lot, I feel tiny and vulnerable and at the mercy of the universe. And I’m embarrassed because I know people can see me. Worse, they might even hear me sniffling. Thank God for that person who treated me like a friend. Her presence and her simple, funny, friendly words gave me hope that things could be ok.

I’m back in my car. My chicken got a little wet. But I’m ok, thank God. Thank God for this warm dry car and this chicken. Thank God for that friendly woman, and for our beloved Rev. Zelda…; thank God for meds, for friends, for children, for music, and for the rain. Oh how we need this rain.

 

[Adapted from an earlier Facebook post]

January 26, 2018 Zanaida 0

Tonality

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve accepted an invitation to be on the board of directors for the incredible new choral group, “Tonality.”

Tonality promotes peace, unity and social justice through choral music performance in Los Angeles. I’ve sung with this group myself, and am blown away by their director Alexander Lloyd Blake. Alex is a fellow USC Trojan!, and I am so proud to support their incredible work.

As a Christmas meditation, please read Ian Perry Walker‘s review of Tonality’s December 2 performance of Stories of Home: A Tonality Holiday Concert:


Tonality’s next performance is a reprise of their “Put Your Guns Down” concert, on Sunday, January 7 at 7pm, at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Admission is free!

I’ll be there, and I hope you’ll come, too. If you can’t make it, please consider making a year-end gift to support the dynamic work of this organization. Go to their Fractured Atlas page to make a donation.

Merry Christmas.
Zanaida

December 25, 2017 Zanaida 0

Thanks

We are all givers of thanks. We are all receivers of gratitude. From age to age, we are each other’s everything. 

We say and hear:

Thank you for your time…

Thank you for your service…

Thank you for your patience…

Thank you for your spirit…

Thank you for your strength…

Thank you for your courage…

Thank you for such generosity…

…all givers of thanks. All receivers of gratitude…

Thank you for loving me…

For helping me…

For saving me…

For sparing me…

For feeding me…

For teaching me…

…from age to age, we are each other’s everything…

Thank you for seeing me…

For hearing me…

For touching me…

For not giving up on me…

Thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts…

Thank you for leading the way…

Thank you for inspiring hope…

Thank you for holding on…

And for letting go…

We are all givers of thanks. We are all receivers of gratitude. From age to age, we are each other’s everything. 
November 23, 2017 Zanaida 0

The Lifting of Voices

I was moved to tears when, last weekend, mezzo-soprano Brittany Logan sang the sh*t out of my arrangement of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing!” She sang it during a choral concert presented by the Bob Cole University Choir and Chamber Choir called “We Can Mend the Sky: Choral Music for Social Justice.” Conducted by my former teacher Jonathan Talberg, the Chamber Choir did a splendid job of supporting Brittany as she wailed with depth and fervor and exquisite vocalism — the perfect voice for my piece. Brittany told me that for her, a young Black American female college student, singing THIS SONG with THIS CHOIR meant the world to her. Tears were streaming from both our eyes as I hugged and hugged her. It meant the world to me, too.

I attended Saturday night’s concert with added pep in my step over having been elected President of the George Robert Garner III Branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) the week prior, on October 14. I am so proud to be connected with a centuries-old Black American musical legacy through NANM. And I am filled with honor, humility, and hope as I imagine how I might serve as one of the living links between NANM and music institutions and educators that are finding ways to not only “include” Black Americans, but to give Black Americans a safe space where they can lift their voices and truly be seen and heard in ways that validate their humanity without tokenizing their identity.

I know I’ve said this before: “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn that connects us to our roots, honors the present, and points toward the future. The poetry is epic and sophisticated. It speaks to our common struggle with brutality and injustice. And mostly, it speaks to the value of EVERY collective human voice that has ever been imprisoned, demoralized, persecuted, and/or murdered. Anyone and everyone can and should sing this song. But for me, and for many Black Americans, this song is our pride and joy. It means more than words can say for this song to be sung to life by our prestigious local music institutions, especially when Black Americans take the lead.

There are lots of great arrangements of “Lift Every Voice” out there. If you are a choral conductor, please consider performing mine. It is published by E.B. Marks Music and distributed by Hal Leonard. For details, go to to https://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=139863.

October 25, 2017 Zanaida 1