Georgia Southern University’s three choral groups will perform music from around the world at the Carol A. Carter Recital Hall on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

This is the first major performance of this semester for the University Singers, Women’s Chorale and Southern Chorale.

“The literature features a good variety from twentieth century composers and has a hard difficulty,” Shannon Jeffreys, director of choral activities, said.

Southern Chorale will be using the fall concert to help it prepare for its upcoming international competition. The group competed at last year’s competition in Linz, Austria.

“This summer we competed and did exceptionally well. We placed second in mixed choir category and second in the vocal ensemble category. The competition bug bit us and we want to compete more,” Jeffreys said.

The music being performed on Thursday will be the same music that was performed at the international competition in Lousiville, Ky, over Thanksgiving break.

“We are performing our competition literature. It is definitely different from what most people would expect from a traditional choir, with a wide variety from opera to Indian music,” Lentz said.

“We want to find the little things to fix so we can hone our skills for internationals. We also want to get feedback from our colleagues and peers,” Jeffreys said.

The Georgia Southern Fall Choral Concert will be the debut of the newly formed Women’s Chorale.

“The Women’s Chorale is new and it’s a pretty small group. It is a middle option for women who aren’t competition level yet but are above University Singers, ” Lentz said.

University Singers is the open choir where members do not have pressures of auditioning and has about fifty members.

“We’ve been preparing for this performance since the first day of the semester. Our pieces are more relaxed and welcome you into the fall season,” Nicholas Flott, choral assistant for University Singers and junior music education major, said.

The concert is free to the public and will last about one hour.

“I’m really excited. Our students are really passionate about what they do and it definitely shows through our music. We really care about what we’re doing and you can really tell that from the moment we walk out on stage. For those of us who have studies it’s a great study break and it will be a lot of fun,” Lentz said.

Jeffreys said, “The audience can expect a variety of music performed by exceptionally talented, energetic singers and students.”