I want to rest and relax. But I want to catch up on chores and personal projects. I want to respond to all my unread emails. I want to do something special, eat something special, go somewhere special. I want to play video games and nap all day long. But I want to exercise. I want to go hiking and kayaking. I want to practice piano and compose music. I want to get my car fixed and schedule doctor appointments. I want to pay my bills and call my mom and update my website.
Alas, at the end of the day, I basically did none of this! But maybe all I was supposed to do today was make this list. I also took a short nap. I got my COVID booster and caught up on correspondence.
Conducting
I’ve been earnestly practicing conducting lately. I make short videos and post them to social media to hold myself accountable. It’s scary and frustrating, but valuable. Check out what I’ve added to my TikTok and IG pages.
For Fun
Hurray for Bell Choir at NUUC!Ollie, looking like he was assembled incorrectly First football game of the season at HW: we won! Ollie and Archie on timeout after a morning of mischief
My work as a composer, music director, teacher, wife, and mom is incredibly complex. Though it’s overwhelming at times, the exhilaration and affirmation I receive from my work makes it all worthwhile. But self-care is crucial! You can’t effectively take care of anyone or anything unless you take care of yourself!
Self-care is everything including (but not limited to) taking your medicine as directed, going to bed early/on time, consistently cooking and eating healthy meals, saying prayers and meditating, waking up early and reading a book or exercising instead of checking email and social media sites as soon as I open my eyes. Self-care is anything we do to bring balance and perspective to our bodies and minds.
After enduring the Armageddon-level struggle of bringing Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast to Carnegie Hall this past spring, I decided I needed some epic self-care. Here’s what I did:
I took a trip by myself to Costa Rica in May, and visited my friend, Dr. Jaclyn Normandie:
I went to Hawaii for the first time and took my daughters with me in June:
I went to the ECCO Choral Conference to recharge and serve with friends in July:
CCDA ECCO Retreat (aka summer camp for choral musicians)
I hosted a terrific Summer Intensive with the Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers at the beginning of August:
And I went to Disneyland for my oldest daughter’s birthday in August:
Not gonna lie, the financial strain has been difficult this summer. But it was oh, so worth it! I cherish these photos as evidence that my self-care work was warranted. And I’m inspired to ensure my future self-care regimen always includes something epic that I can look forward to and look back on with pride and joy.
Conducting
Calling musicians of all ages, new, and returning! A vital part of our worship is music. This is your opportunity to join in. Register now for our 2023-2024 church year in Neighborhood Chorus, Youth Choir, or Bells. Registration ensures we have enough materials for everyone. All participants register anew each year. For questions contact music Director, Dr. Zanaida Robles. The schedule is as follows:
Neighborhood Chorus 1st rehearsal: Thursday, 8/31 from 7pm-9pm (earlier start time for 1st rehearsal) Rehearsals every subsequent Thursday from 7:15-9pm First Performance: Ingathering on Sunday 9/10 at 10am
Youth Choir 1st rehearsal: Sunday, 9/17 at 1pm Three Sunday rehearsals: 9/17, 9/24, 10/1 Performance: Sunday 10/8 during the 11:30 service
Neighborhood Bells 1st rehearsal: Tuesday, 9/5 6pm-7pm Rehearsals every subsequent Tuesday from 6pm-7pm First Performance: Sunday 10/15 at 9:30am & 11:30am
Upcoming events
Thursday 12/7 @ 7:30pm Harvard-Westlake Upper School, Studio City, CA A fall choral concert featuring multiple composers. My piece “Umoja” is being performed by treble choir Bel Canto.
Saturday, 12/2 @ 7pm St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, PA The Chestnut Street Singers are performing my piece Ecstatic Expectancy as part of their concert entitled “Ask the Winter Moon.”
Ollie (and Archie’s) Corner
Ollie and Archie, our new kitty, are already close buds!
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.
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:
