Immanuel featuring Melanie Penn

Immanuel is a winsome collection of folk-pop songs, with nine originals and one classic carol retelling the Christmas story through the perspective of the angels and people who lived through it -- Mary, Joseph, The Wise Men, The Innkeeper, and even The Star of Bethlehem -- in a compelling and deeply human way.

Melanie Penn is a songwriter at the crossroads of faith and culture. After studying classical voice, she moved to New York City and pursued musical theater where she enjoyed several years as a mainstay in the theatre scene, most notably playing Sandy on the Broadway national tour of Grease! starring Frankie Avalon.

Penn then started writing songs. Her first singer-songwriter album was called Wake Up Love (2010), and was met with unexpected critical acclaim. Five more albums followed in continued collaboration with Shive: Hope Tonight (2015); Immanuel (2017); Immanuel: The Folk Sessions (2019) and More Alive Vol. I and Vol. 2 (2020/2022).

The Immanuel project, Melanie’s songwriting journey through the Christmas story, was called a songwriting tour de force by Christian and mainstream press. It reached No. 1 on Amazon’s Christian, Worship and Holiday Download charts. Melanie is also a worship leader and served at Redeemer Presbyterian Church under the leadership of author and theologian Tim Keller.

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