For the first time ever, 130 of Georgia Southern University’s best voices will perform a live Christmas concert for the Statesboro community at the First United Methodist Church of Statesboro.

“We’ve been working diligently towards this concert, and we’re excited to collaborate with not only university students but also the community,” Alyssa Noel, senior music major and president of the Georgia Southern Chorale, said.

“We appreciate every opportunity that we have to better our choir in preparation for our goals,” Noel said.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. on Sunday at First United Methodist Church of Statesboro. The concert will be free to attend. The church is located on the corner of West Cherry St. and South Main St.

“I’m super excited to present this concert as a representative example of the growth of GSU’s music program,” Shannon Jeffreys, director of Choral Activities at GSU, said.

“I’m exceptionally excited about our young singers that we’ve recruited in the past couple of years,” Jeffreys said.

In the past, Southern Chorale did a seasonal celebration at the Performing Arts Center. This year the group wanted to collaborate with First United Methodist Church of Statesboro to be more directly involved in the community, Jeffreys said.

Georgia Southern Chorale is a vocal competition group that tours parts of the United States, as well as Europe, battling with other choral ensembles from their respective regions. Jeffreys has been in charge for three years and counting.

“We feel quite prepared and pretty good about (the concert),” Jacob Furse, senior music education major and section leader of the chorale, said.

Furse said, “We really enjoy the experience of the teamwork of everyone being able to come together with completely different voices, backgrounds and experience and still be able to make brilliant music.”