Three friends – all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – brought an original Easter-themed musical production to the stage last week in Wellington, New Zealand.
“Jesus the Christ – An Easter Cantata” premiered to an interfaith audience at Old St Paul’s Church in Wellington on 28 and 29 March.
Crystal Viljoen says she took inspiration from the New Testament as she wrote the lyrics for the cantata.
Crystal’s friends, Mariah Brunt and Alana Stevenson, joined with her to create the SCORE production team – the backbone of the initiative.
The three women put in long hours of intense composition and went through a steep learning curve as they juggled the demands of work, family and creating and staging the production.
Vocal and orchestra participants in the production were selected from auditions throughout the greater Wellington area. These individuals were joined by members of the Harbour City Chorus and the Wellington City Chorus.
Following the final performance, Crystal said, “I feel a lot of gratitude for all the people who have worked with us and volunteered time and talents to make this possible. I feel joy in writing music for our Saviour and testifying of Him through song.”
Mariah Brunt, who was the musical director and conductor, said, “I felt very lucky to be involved in this project. I am grateful for God’s inspiration while writing this and seeing what I had imagined come to life.”
Alana Stevenson, production manager, said, “The highlight for me was the finished product. Most of my contributions were behind the scenes but it was amazing to watch the process of this beautiful music being written and overcoming various obstacles along the way to have it performed so beautifully.”
All three women said they would love to have the music recorded and performed by different groups as part of Easter celebrations for years to come.
Although Crystal, Mariah and Alana have no definite musical plans in the future, all would like to write and perform again.