Zanaida Robles - Part 5

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 153: Zanaida Robles - Part 5

In this week’s episode, we talk to Zanaida Robles about two of her recent works, “Made in LA: Identity and Belonging in the City of Angels” and “From the Stone Age,” which explore the topics of intersectionality, identity, and vulnerability. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Zanaida Robles, check her out here: https://zanaidarobles.com/. This episode was originally recorded in January 2024.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano),  as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/15732848

Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Addy Geenen, Yoyo Hung-Yu Lin

Don't miss Ensemble for These Times' upcoming concert 'Mujeres Ahora' on May 9 at the Community Music Center, presented as part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival. For more information, go to www.E4TT.org.

Chapters

• 0:38 In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Zanaida Robles, who we spoke to in January 2024.
• 0:46 You have a piece called Made in LA: Identity and Belonging in the City of Angels, and it sounds fascinating. Can you tell us about that?
• 4:45 In your blog, you write about grieving by letting go instead of numbing or distracting oneself in order to feel gratitude. Is this something you've been exploring in your music, or is that more sort of a life thing that is affecting you at the moment?
• 5:52 So the Melodia Choir premiered your From the Stone Age in November, and the text explores ideas of identity and vulnerability, deep topics. Can you tell us about the piece? What drew you to these themes when you started working on it? And...

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists, sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Zanaida Robles, who we spoke to in January 2024 [INTRO MUSIC ENDS]. You have a piece called Made in LA: Identity and Belonging in the City of Angels, and it sounds fascinating. Can you tell us about that?

Zanaida Robles  00:38

Ah, so I think you're talking, is that the one is that with Iris Levine and Vox Femina, is that...

Nanette McGuinness  00:38

Yeah, yeah. 

Zanaida Robles  00:45

Okay, so my, the piece that I wrote is called Intersectionality.

Nanette McGuinness  00:50

Right, that is the title...

Zanaida Robles  00:56

Right. So yeah, I wrote a piece called Intersectionality for that concert. A cool piece, I, um, I took poetry from four different three different poets, and then I bookended it with my own words, sort of defining what intersectionality is, and this idea of how we all have some kind of identity, whether it's cultural identity or gender identity or these, these different identities that we have that define us and help and and you know our, we know we know who we are through these various you know concepts of our identities and very overlap many, many times, most of us have overlapping identities, and that's intersectionality, right? And depending on what your identities are, you might experience different kinds of exclusion or discrimination, or, you know, lack or you know, different different challenges based on our identity. And so this, this piece sort of explores intersectionality, from the perspective of a Dominican American woman, and then from the perspective of an Asian American woman. And then from an from a person who and then also the the third poet is a person who is a woman who is um has reached uh, sort of like she's not middle aged, she's older in life, a more an experienced woman, right? So these identities of age and ethnicity and, you know, geographic background and cultural background, you know, these three different just just, they're just kind of almost like vignettes, you know, this is what, this is the experience and that, and that's and that kind of comprised the whole, the whole project of Intersectionality is just to present these different kinds of identities in this one unified piece.

Nanette McGuinness  00:56

Right.\

Zanaida Robles  00:51

And that was the, what you quoted, the Made in LA, that was the title of their concert.

Nanette McGuinness  02:59

Nice. Were you involved any in the overall program and the concept, or did they just bring you in?

Zanaida Robles  03:07

No, this was this, you know, Dr. Levine, Dr. Iris Levine is just a brilliant, you know, she's a master at creating programs. She's been, she's been, she's another, honestly, she's another one of my mentors and influence on, I'm so grateful, and I was so honored when she called me and asked me to to write this. It was, it was a commission piece, so she already had the concept for what she wanted to do and about Made in LA and just wanted to really feature LA, specifically LA like LA composers and LA spaces. And so that that was already in part of the plan, and I brought to the table this idea, you know, I want to explore this concept of identity and intersectionality, and that's how the piece came about.

Nanette McGuinness  03:51

Very nice. It's a fascinating concept to bring to music. I'm actually in the back of my mind, uh, starting to curate a program in 2026. I know, I know we have to think that far ahead. Yeah, and, you know, it may morph, and I shouldn't even talk about it because it may morph, but it's having to do with women and identity and that kind of intersectionality concept. We'll see where it goes by, you know, when we get there, it may be very different, but anyway, so, but it's an interesting and powerful realm. In your blog, you write about grieving by letting go instead of numbing or distracting oneself in order to feel gratitude. Is this something you've been exploring in your music, or is that more sort of a life thing that is affecting you at the moment?

Zanaida Robles  04:43

It's a life thing, um, I think eventually it probably will seep into the music, um. I don't know how, um, but it's definitely been a life thing. I think it has colored some of my more recent works. It's, I it's, been a little dark. This the music that's been coming out as a result of that grieving process, it's tinged with a little bit of darkness. Minor keys, minor modes, dissonances, you know, I don't know it's it. I think it, you know, it's a phase, I'm living life. And I think that's what that is.

Nanette McGuinness  05:23

Yeah, yeah, just the times that we're in you mean? And...

Zanaida Robles  05:26

Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  05:26

Yeah, no, it's true. Times are continuing to be optimistic and dark at the same time. It's interesting times. So the Melodia Choir premiered your From the Stone Age in November, and the text explores ideas of identity and vulnerability, deep topics. Can you tell us about the piece? What drew you to these themes when you started working on it? And...

Zanaida Robles  05:53

Yeah, I think, I think, okay, so honestly, from the Stone Age is about, it's it's really about, it's about a rock. It's about, right, you know? And it's about a stone that was once carved in the image of a god, and over time, it's, it's been weathered and worn away, and now it's just a rock. And all of its once, you know, once sharp, jagged edges in the form of this, whatever this thing that was, and have now been smoothed out so it's no longer rough. It's no longer, you know, rigid. It's in what you know at this it exists, sort of like it's always existed, you know, since the beginning of time. And I think, when I think the poem, it's like when I first read it, I don't know, I guess, because of where I was in my life, it resonated so deeply. I was like, this is like, it's like I did, you know, discovering you know your identity and you you know I used to be, you know, I was supposed to be this, this thing. But time has, you know, caused me, I don't know if the poet or the poem is actually supposed to be like that, like, you know, this represents a woman, you know what I mean?

Nanette McGuinness  07:12

I could though, I could totally, you know, as I'd read the description, so I knew what it was about, and as a woman who's growing older, I can, you know, you see the sharp edges burnished off.

Zanaida Robles  07:23

Yeah. I just, it just, when I read, immediately when I read that poem, before I even had the Melodia can commi commission, I knew I wanted to set that text, that that was one of the that was, that was it. Alice Corbin Henderson text, and it was so it's public domain because Alice Corbin Henderson lived in the late 19th century, early 20th century. I knew I wanted to set that text. It was so powerful, and I was like, oh, that's that's a woman, that's a woman discovering who she really is in her essence. And so that's what I tried to write. I think it's a journey. It's a really, it's very personal. I remember, and while I was writing it, I sang it a lot. I sang it a lot, especially the this, there's a little solo part in there, just talking about... well the whole thing is from the from kind of, like, first person perspective, you know, I've gone through all of this and, you know, I, you know, since I became a stone, I have no need, you know, to I don't have to remember any, everything exists already, you know, I don't I... I don't need to do anything for my existence to be complete. You know, I'm complete. I sang I I sang what I wrote a lot, and it stuck with me. And I guess it's still sticking with me. When I think about that piece, it has a special place in my heart I had, you know, I don't know why, and I don't really know why, just the timing and the subject and the way that that poem hit me, it's just, it's very personal. Yeah, and I still sing it. I get, I remember one day, just, you know, I was trying to, I was editing the score, and I was singing through it. And even while I was editing, I was like, getting teary, and I was like, Oh, this is me, you know, I, I, you know, what doesn't matter what anyone ever thought I was going to be, I am what I am! You know, I don't know, I'm very dramatic, so... 

Nanette McGuinness  09:32

Yeah, I mean, it comes with the territory of being a soprano, okay fine.

Zanaida Robles  09:36

Exactly. I'm a soprano, so...

Nanette McGuinness  09:38

Yeah, exactly.

Nanette McGuinness  09:39

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure and a special thank you to our guest, Zanaida Robles, for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council, and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts, and tune in next week "for good measure" [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS].