Tag: National Concerts

New York City at sunset

Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?

We do! The old joke says “practice, practice, practice!” and of course that’s true. In March 2027, ZSR Singers is putting that old adage to work, heading to New York to sing in one of the most fabled spaces in the world.

We’ll be performing Shawn Kirchner’s Songs of Ascent — a transcendent cantata built on the ancient pilgrim psalms, music about gathering, healing, and coming home to each other. This is a bucket-list opportunity: the same stage that’s hosted history’s greatest musicians, now with your voice in the mix. Produced by National Concerts, registration is open now for both choirs and individual singers. Sign up by September 10 and start here.

Join us Sept 6 for a live info session!

A group Zoom chat will get a LOT of your questions answered. Join us 9/6/26 at 2pm, and let us hear from you!

Join here

Read more

Click here to read more about the trip, the rehearsals and the whole experience.

Considering joining us?

We’d love to hear from you now, so we can keep you in the loop. If you think you might join us on this incredible journey, please fill out this form:

Let us know you’re interested

Strictly Casual returns August 30!

Composition

Four new works published!

A Mother’s Plea, The Angels Reply was the gold-medal winner in music compostion for the 1996 NAACP ACT-SO Competion. Written when the composer was 16 years old, the original two-movement work was concieved in response to the composer’s experience as middle-schooler during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. The second movement, The Angel’s Reply, is published separately as Psalm 121.

LA River Scenes blends melodies I made up in my childhood and young adult years with impressions from my recent experiences with the LA River Kayak Safari tour company. The journey begins with a bike ride along the LA river’s edge followed by an fascinating history lesson about the Elysian River Valley and finally an exciting kayak trip down the luscious river with baby rapids and deep pools of up to 10 feet. My piece reflects the love and pride I feel for my hometown and my excitement over discovering I can go kayaking near Dodger Stadium in summer.

Commissioned by Scott Horowitz and Leah Weinberg for Kantorei, (Denver, CO USA) Joel Rinsema, Conductor, Winter Branches is a modern a cappella choral setting of the well-known poem by Margaret Widdemer. Rich harmonies, intuitive synchopations, and a gentle triple meter add a modern sense of holiday comfort and warmth to any winter-themed concert program.

The Root is a setting of two statements given by iconic Civil Rights leader, Angela Davis. The initial statement, “radical means grasping things at the root,” is a quote from her address Let Us All Rise Together: Radical Perspectives on Empowerment for Afro-American Women. The second text source is perhaps Davis’ best known quote, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept,” a statement without a clear origin that has been widely attributed to Davis.

See Zanaida’s work on MusicSpoke

About the shift to “Stewart Robles Music”

When I started self-publishing my original compositions, I realized I had to name a publisher at the bottom of my scores and add a publishing component to my ASCAP profile. I wanted a name that represented the evolution of two beautiful families — I was born into the Stewart family and I married into the Robles family.

Both families have a legacy of professional music-making, and both legacies have influenced my development as a music professional. Thus, Stewart Robles Music was born. Stewart Robles Music is my creative and administrative home. It encompasses my work as a composer, conductor, singer, educator, and arts leader, and it provides the structural and financial support for community-based choral projects, artistic collaborations, and educational initiatives.

Through Stewart Robles Music, I administer the ZSR Singers, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing intergenerational enrichment through choral music.

For Fun

Corn Dog and Slushy Time at Sonic
Cat Pile in a Corner
Sunset Over Ghost Rider at Knott’s Berry Farm

Keep the tempo, keep the joy…

Originally published as the August 2026 newsletter – Not on the list? Sign up here

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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

Memories of Valentine’s Day
Students admiring Dr. Robles’s new coat

Ollie’s Corner

Ollie, the epitome of bliss

Be well!

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

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