Becoming curious

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…

Order here

Conducting

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!

Register now

For Fun

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!

Original email newsletter — June 25, 2023. Join Zanaida’s mailing list here

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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!

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Lenten discipline

This is a holy time. It is heralded by Mardi Gras, the Tuesday of revelry and indulgence before Ash Wednesday, a day of solemnity and spiritual focus. This is when many Christians around the world begin observing the season of Lent (the 40 days and nights before Easter) by taking on a beneficial challenge or abstaining from certain comforts in order to fortify themselves mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Like a New Year’s resolution, Lenten disciplines can be very hard to keep. As a Christian, the time to which I look forward most is Easter: the resurrection; the end of 40 days and nights of wandering in the wilderness — a joyful and much anticipated day of rebirth. With the promise of Easter far off in the distance, it’s a little easier to commit to maintaining a Lenten discipline.

I feel like my Lenten experience started months ago, when I embarked on the final push toward conducting Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast at Carnegie Hall this coming March. And now, with the actual season of Lent upon us, taking on the enormous task of organizing this historic performance feels even more significant. Sometimes I feel like I’m under attack. Sometimes I feel alone and lost. I feel worn, starved, and stretched beyond my limits. Sometimes I feel like I can’t go on. But the promise of salvation and rebirth linger in the distance. Like the old Negro spiritual says, “I gotta keep my hand on the plow and Hold On!”

And then, oh what a happy Easter this will be! I’ll be singing “The Strife is O’er,” “Welcome Happy Morning,” Lo, the Day of Days is Here,” and so much “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!” I’ll be singing and shouting and feasting and drumming, giving thanks to God for such an amazing day! Liturgically, there may be 40 days of Lenten hell, but there are 50 days of Easter bliss. Since my Lent seems to have lasted for months and months, you’d better believe that my Easter is about to last for years to come!

Composition

Come hear my new work, “Intersectionality”, with VOX Femina, in a couple of weeks:

Made in LA
Identity and Belonging in the City of Angels
Saturday, March 11 at 7PM
First Congregational Church of Los Angeles

Get tickets

Join us as we celebrate the many cultures and communities that define our “City of Angels!” Explore the unique soundscape created by the diverse communities of Los Angeles and enjoy music in English, Spanish, Hebrew, and Farsi, honoring the ecclecitc populations of the city. Featuring new works by LA-based composers Zanaida Stewart Robles, and Saunder Choi, plus a collaboration with GMCLA a cappella group Aftershock!

Conducting

March includes some very fun music during the 11:30am service at Neighborhood Church:

3/5 — Music by Joni Mitchell and Eliza Gilkyson
3/12 — Music by Ludwig van Beethoven and Buryl Red
3/19 — Works by Palestrina and Coleridge-Taylor

HIAWATHA’S WEDDING FEAST @ IN LA AND AT CARNEGIE HALL

3/24, 7:30pm @ Emmanuel Lutheran Church in North Hollywood
3/28, 8pm @ Carnegie Hall, NYC

Singing

This past weekend at Neighborhood Church, I was thrilled to sing “Dear Husband” from Songs of the Slave by Kirke Mechem and Dream Variation by Margaret Bonds.

For Fun

*Students admiring Dr. Robles’s new coat*

Ollie’s Corner

Be well!

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Starting the new season with a bang

I wasn’t quite sure what to share with you this month, as there’s just so much going on! I’ve been working through recordings and videos from this summer, and I’ll be sharing those on social media. (Are you following me?)

I’m waiting on copyright confirmation for five soon-to-be published works, and so excited about launching that cluster of new pieces. But with a new school year, a new “season” starting at church, and so many exciting projects coming up, I might need a minute, so this newsletter is a big “stay tuned”. Here’s a big piece:

Save the date!

Busy and Happy

There’s lots going on right now. Several performances, residencies, and projects are on the horizon. I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time check out this amazing wild guava tree that spontaneously sprung in out yard. The fruit is REALLY sweet and fragrant. I feel blessed that this special tree chose our home as a growing place.

I’m also reading a lot, so there seem to be stacks of books everywhere!

Ollie’s Corner

Ollivander does the laundry!

Ollie has his very own technique for household chores, but we’re always grateful for his adorable attempts to “help”:

More to come!

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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!