LDS musician sharing Peter's story of Christ

At first, Jenny Phillips wanted to do something about the last weeks of Christ's life.

"That story is so powerful," she says.

But the more she got into it, the more she began to see it through the Apostle Peter's eyes. "I fell in love with his story. He took me on the journey with him."

So Phillips, who sees music as one of the most powerful storytelling devices, ended up with a CD/musical project called "The Miracle," told from Peter's perspective.

"One reason I love him is because he is a person we can all relate to," says Phillips. "He was a humble fisherman. He was weak and impetuous at times. He was not always the unfaltering person he became. We can change and become stronger, too. The wonder, the power, the change. That is 'The Miracle.' "

On her CDs (she now has seven), the focus is on the theme, not the artist, she says. On this one, local artists such as Jenny Jordan Frogley and George Dyer perform some of the songs.

Phillips has also put together a 100-member choir to sing both on the CDs and for musical productions built around them. These productions include narration and multi-media aspects as well as the music.

It's a formula that has earned Phillips not only accolades but also a busy schedule. She currently performs more than 200 times a year across the country and throughout the world and has become the "most-requested" LDS recording artist.

She will debut her production of "The Miracle" tonight at Cottonwood High School. Joining Phillips will be artists from the album, including Dyer, Frogley, Katherine Nelson, Dallyn Bayles, Hayley Anderson and the choir.

Phillips began her career in 1999 with a self-released CD. She is now on Deseret Book's Lumen Records label. "That first project was artist-driven, but I realized that I wanted to go in a different direction. I wanted to tell stories."

Subsequent CDs focus on the biblical parables and the Mormon pioneers. She has done a couple around Young Women's themes. She actually started this one before her pioneer "Journey." "But it was such a powerful, deep story," she knew she needed to devote more time to it. "I've actually been working on it for years."

The most rewarding part, she says, is taking the music to people and places where they might not otherwise get it. Phillips and her crew pay their own way. "We get all these e-mail requests, but most of them can't afford to pay for us. We use the proceeds from the albums and pick up the rest."