Denver Metro Area Welcomes Easter Season with Annual “Lamb of God” Performance
By Corey Christiansen, Denver Metro Area Media Specialist
Easter doesn’t come until late April this year, but the Easter season has already begun. An annual Easter tradition in the Denver metro area has just completed its three-night run at the University of Denver’s Newman Center. This special tradition was the performance of Rob Gardner’s Lamb of God, a New Testament-inspired oratorio that focuses on the final days of the life of Jesus Christ.
Lamb of God was presented by the Littleton Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and performed by the Cornerstone Chorale and Orchestra. Cornerstone performers are all members of The Church of Jesus Christ and are amateur musicians from the Denver metro area who love to share their incredible talents with their community.
Paul Archer, Executive Vice President of Cornerstone, said, “Easter celebrates the greatest event in human history – the redeeming atonement of Jesus Christ. Lamb of God tells the story in music and narration of the happenings leading up to and following the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Singers performing as those who were closest to the mortal Jesus – his mother Mary, Apostles Peter, John, and Thomas, and close friends Mary and Martha of Bethany and Mary Magdalene sing of the power of Jesus Christ in all of their lives, indeed in all of our lives. The soloists are beautifully joined by the Cornerstone Chorale and Orchestra to provide a performance that is both musically stunning and spiritually powerful. Lamb of God is a highlight of the Easter season for all who experience it.”
This is the ninth season Lamb of God has been performed in Denver. A highlight of the three-night event was the opening night reception for about 170 community leaders. Archer said, “Government leaders from across the political spectrum, business leaders, and faith leaders mingled in an environment of peace, harmony and fellowship where the brotherhood and sisterhood of all participants was manifest. Each made new friends, created new understandings and enjoyed sharing the evening with their fellow leaders. All then attended the beautiful musical oratorio Lamb of God. One of the titles of Jesus Christ is Prince of Peace. Our community leaders experienced together an evening of beauty, harmony and of peace.”
Archer continued, “Every year soloists and narrators audition for the opportunity to perform in Lamb of God. Every year the number of incredible singers who audition grows. We are amazed each year at the incredible talent in the Denver area. Some of the soloists performed in Lamb of God for the third or fourth time while for others it was their first. One soloist is in his early 20’s and has never sung in an event this grand, while another has years as a Lamb of God soloist and years of soloing in other significant events.”
“The Cornerstone Chorale and the Cornerstone Orchestra are amateur musicians who auditioned to join the Chorale or Orchestra,” Archer said. “They are young and old. There are musicians from the legal profession, from medicine, from engineering and business, from academia and there are musicians who are wonderful mothers and fathers and homemakers. The conductor is a lawyer by day, a husband and father by night – and a gifted musician. One violinist is the Chief Financial Officer of a major Colorado business for whom this is the busiest time of his work year. And yet, he makes time to play in the Lamb of God orchestra as it is a great blessing in his life.”
