Running After You: Passion Recital

Palm Sunday, April 1st, 2012. Our big Passion Recital in the Great Hall of CMS College.

What a night! The attendance was great, the choir excited. Once the program began, the mood was somber and reflective as we contemplated His display of love for us in dying on the cross. I encouraged the choir to paint a picture with their singing- together we painted a picture of His last days. "Blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" we opened with, as those in Jerusalem invited Jesus into their city with the waving of palms. In "Winds Through the Olives," everyone's favorite piece, we painted a picture of Gethsemane. The tinkling, nostalgic piano line opened the song as a painful reminiscence, and the women ever-so-quietly entered as the wind, blowing gently through the olive trees on Gethsemane. The men continued to set the scene, singing "Jesus has come to the garden to pray, kneeling alone at the end of the day, struggling with shadows in evening's dim light...." The choir was so expressive in their text painting and conveying His suffering in their voices. Moving forward from Gethsemane, we declared what Jesus has done for us in the old hymn "He Did It All for Me" and the haunting melody, "Jesus Died for Me." In the middle of the concert, I sang and played violin for a rendition of the Passion hymn, "O Sacred Head Now Wounded." The concert also included two traditional Malayalam hymns as well as a duet. We boldly shared the news of the empty tomb in the lilting "Risen! Christ is Risen!"

I hope that all in the audience truly were drawn into contemplation of His death, and His resurrection!

Check out some videos & photos from our first performance (thank you for the videos, Soumya!):

"Blessed Be the One"

Wind Through the Olives (first part)

Wind Through the Olives (second half)

Traditional Malayalam hymn "Oru man cheranayi njan varunnu"