The ZSR Singers “Up Your Game” Reading Session is a professional development experience for singers ages 15 and up. Singers will sharpen their musicianship skills while singing favorite choral works by some of LA’s most acclaimed composers. Meet and sing with the composers, make connections, and gain practical insight for advancing your career in choral music. Designed for choral students, teachers, composers, emerging professionals, and any choral music lover who wants to up their game in the choral field.
REGISTRATION FEE:
$60 Students
$100 General
DATE & TIME
Sunday, February 1 from 2pm-5pm
LOCATION
301 N. Orange Grove Bl. Pasadena, CA 91103 in the Sanctuary
Last week I had to get up early for a routine medical check-up in Glendora, not far from my home. Across the street from the medical office is a small park called Big Tree Bicentennial Park. It may be one of the smallest parks around, but it is home to one of the most enormous trees in the whole country!
According to the City of Glendora’s website, “The ‘Big Tree’ was planted in the late 1880’s by Mr. Edgar J. Owens, one of Glendora’s early residents. The tree’s botanical name “Ficus Mactophylla” is commonly called Moreton Bay Fig and is named after the Moreton Bay Region of Australia where the species grows naturally. The tree is known for its large buttress roots, helping it reach approximately 99 feet tall and 47 feet in diameter.”
Perplexity AI sources also say the tree’s extensive roots reportedly reach over 1,200 feet across the 15,000-square-foot park.
Several years ago, when I first drove by it, I had to stop the car and back up because I couldn’t believe my eyes. So this time, instead of just driving by, and since I had some extra time before work, I decided to park my car, get out, and touch its massive roots. It was so healing and spiritual, majestic and beautiful. If you’ve never seen it, I hope you get a chance to look up Big Tree Park in Glendora and check out this magnificent tree.
Conducting
On Sunday September 21, I had the enormous pleasure of conducting Bel Canto, my high school treble choir from Harvard-Westlake, as the featured guest artists at the Neighborhood UU Church Pasadena 10am service celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of Francis Ellen Watkins Harper: an early Unitarian Universalist Black American writer, abolitionist, suffragist, poet, and teacher. Bel Canto sang The Crocuses by Joanna Mills and Songs for the People by Rosephanye Powell – two works featuring texts by Harper, who was born on November 24, 1825. I also conducted the Neighborhood Chorus on I Thank Thee by Demetrius Robinson with lyrics adapted from a letter Harper wrote to Harriet Beecher Stowe in appreciation of Stowe’s ground-breaking novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The entire service was an extraordinary blend of education, deep spirituality, transformative social justice work, and beautiful artistic expression. Here’s the service, which was live-streamed on Youtube:
Composition
The Song of Significance, the piece I wrote for the LA Master Chorale, is finally here! I jumped for joy when my printed copies arrived in the mail this week.
We’re now an official not-for-profit organization!!
Zanaida Stewart Robles Singers creates intergenerational artistic experiences by inspiring and cultivating cultural, intellectual, and spiritual engagement through choral music.
The ZSR Singers Summer Choir Intensive is happening August 4-10 at Neighborhood UU Church, Pasadena. Cost is $100 per person. Ages 16+
I just submitted the manuscript for my new setting of O Magnum Mysterium for soprano and organ. The work was commissioned the American Guild of Organists and will be premiered next year at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis during the 2026 AGO National Convention.
Singing
Photo by Mercy Luna
Saturday, May 24 was a night of powerful choral singing at the Wallis Theater in Beverly Hills. I was honored to be a soloist with the GRAMMY Award-winning group Tonality in the premiere performance of Alexander Lloyd Blake’s new work entitled Running From, Running To: A Musical Reflection on Ahmaud Arbery.
Read more about this powerful work in these news features in the LA Times and the LA Sentinel
Travel
My HW choral students performed Haydn’s Paukenmesse at Carnegie Hall earlier this month. Though I didn’t conduct the performance myself, it was incredibly rewarding to hear the singers rave about their experience and to see them dance together with joy and pride over their accomplishments. Dr. Julie Yu-Oppenheim was efficient, expressive, and hilarious in rehearsal. And she was masterful on the podium in performance. My students loved her! When we weren’t in rehearsal, we got to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.
For Fun
We had a fun summer-time meet-up with members of the Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA) and composers from the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA)
Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus presents an inspiring program featuring musical settings of powerful speeches by influential figures of the past and present. The concert will include the world premiere of The Root — an a cappella SATB work by Zanaida Stewart Robles — setting Angela Davis’ iconic statement, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Mark your calendars for May 4, 2025, and join Spirito Singers for an inspiring evening of music celebrating unity and strength. Featuring a powerful program of songs that uplift and connect us—highlighted by the world premiere of “Beautiful,” a newly commissioned work by renowned composer and conductor Zanaida Stewart Robles.
