So much to share this month!

Let’s dive right in…

Composition

World premiere coming in April

Just 42 days until the world premiere of my piece “The Song of Significance” at Walt Disney Concert Hall, performed by the Grammy Award Winning Los Angeles Master Chorale.

I Believe:
The music of Bach, Bonds and Robles

Grant Gershon, conductor
Lara Downes, piano
Chloé Vaught, soprano
Jamal Moore, bass

Get tickets and full details

Two competitions to share

CCDA/Heussenstamm Composition Contest

The CCDA/George Heussenstamm Choral Composition Contest at ECCO now moves into its eighth year!

Here’s the link to the entry form

HerVoice Composition Contest

Chicago a cappella seeks submissions for HerVoice, a competition and mentorship program for women composers. A partnership with the Vancouver Youth Choir, this opportunity is open to composers of all ages who self-identify as female, from anywhere in the world. It is intended to promote the work of promising composers and provide hands-on training to further their skills in choral composition. We are seeking composers who are eager to improve their skill at choral composition. Women composers whose career is in its early stages and women composers of color are particularly encouraged to apply.

Read the Facebook story

Get full details here

Singing

I had a blast singing at the Peacock Theatre in Downtown LA for “NieR in concert.”

Read about this unusual project

Soundcloud Song of the Month

Guidelines

A cantata in 3 movements for SATB Choir, treble choir, harp, flute, strings, and percussion. Celebrating the life and wisdom of Dominican American poet Rhina P. Espaillat

I. Cycles
II. Para Mi Trataranieto el Pionario
III. Guidelines

Here’s a new demo I recorded of my cantata, Guidelines. Making demos like these is fun and helpful for my compositional process.

Listen to Guidelines by Zanaida Stewart Robles on #SoundCloud

For Fun

The Installation of Rev. Dr. Omega Burckhardt at Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena was a blast! Four (4) musical Hallelujahs by Cohen, Thompson, Beethoven, and Handel were all performed for the occasion. What a celebration!

Ollie and Archie in love

See you next month!

February 25, 2024 Zanaida 0

Now the Rejoicing!

Gloria to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth!

Now the rejoicing! Songs fill the hall.
Now the doors open, welcoming all
Of those who have waited with hope for this peace
And this love and this joy to commence with increase.

Gloria to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth!

Now for the child inside of us all;
The twinkling of lights on trees so tall;
For the giving and getting of so many gifts;
For dancing and feasting and mending of rifts.

Gloria to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth!

Now the reunion of fam’lies and friends;
Now the forgiveness and making amends.
Now is the time when we welcome the light; when we find what was lost, when what’s wrong is made right.

Gloria to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth!

Now that we know we’re no longer alone;
Now that the miracle has been made known;
Now that our heaven is made here on earth;
Now at long last, as we welcome new birth!

Gloria to God in the highest, and peace to all people on earth!

(This is a carol I wrote for inclusion in the 6th edition of Oxford’s Carols for Choirs, which was published this year. We gave the world premiere performance during the 8pm Christmas Eve service at Neighborhood UU Church, Pasadena)

Christmas Eve Service

Sunday, December 24 @ 8pm
Neighborhood UU Church, Pasadena

Celebrating Kwanzaa with a Blast from the Past

I got into the Kwanzaa spirit this year by watching the Neighborhood UU Church virtual Kwanzaa service from 2021 on youtube. My segment on “Decorating for Kwanzaa” happens around 13:15. There are also dance videos of my songs “Kujichagulia” (Self Determination) and “Kuumba” (creativity). Watch the entire 44 minute videos service for a beautiful and informative exploration of this annual celebration of Black and African-American culture.

For Fun

Happy Holidays!

December 25, 2023 Zanaida 0

Spring is here!

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:

Listen here

Conducting

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

For Fun

Visiting with the USC Chamber Singers — They sound great on my setting of Psalm 61!

Ollie’s Corner

Ollivander (Zanaida's beautiful tabby cat) sitting in a pile of laundry — Laundry cat (Everyone should have one!)

View the original email newsletter here, and make sure you’re on the mailing list!

March 25, 2023 Zanaida 0

Summer wrap-up

Summer CCDA conference at ECCO

The gorgeous environment at Yosemite’s ECCO Retreat Center made this conference even more special. Meeting friends, hearing music and sharing these beautiful surroundings together made it far more than just work!

Not my picture, but isn’t Yosemite gorgeous?

Conducting

On August 12, we performed The Sacred Choral Music of Coleridge-Taylor and Robles. I discovered that conducting my own compositions can be thrilling (not just scary!). I couldn’t have been more pleased with the evening. (Photo by Adon Alonzo)

Conducting “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” on Sunday August 14 with my Neighborhood Church summer choir and with Katie Eames at the piano was definitely a summer highlight for me. I loved having 3 teenagers in the group!; my own daughter and two Harvard-Westlake students sang with us. It was transformative to perform this work in the context of a church service intended to confront cultural appropriation and center the voices of Native American culture bearers. We look forward to bringing this kind of depth to our performance at Carnegie Hall in March 2023. (Photo by Yolanda Mitchell West)

Composition

Now that this year’s Coleridge-Taylor Celebration has ended, I turn my attention to the four composition commissions I’ve been neglecting over the past two weeks! Thank goodness the deadlines are spread apart over the next six months. Of the four projects, the two multi-movement pieces on which I’m working right now are particularly challenging.

Y’all need to pray for me.

For Fun

A visit the the Broad Museum for the Murakami exhibit was well worth the time spent sitting in traffic on a Thursday night. Plus, I got to go to the sound bath performance that was part of the exhibit on the 2nd floor of the museum – so refreshing, so resonant, so cool!