To spread the holiday spirit, Jubilee Gospel Choir, a new musical group on campus and in Ames, will put on a Christmas Concert this Saturday at 3 p.m. to get members of the community in the mood for the season.

“I am most looking forward to jamming with the students and musicians who are making this concert possible,”said April Finley, an Iowa State staff member and adviser for Jubilee Gospel Choir. “This was an idea they came up with and wanted to do. It was truly a grassroots effort.”

The Gospel Choir, which began this semester, consists of Iowa State students and Praise Team members from the Friendship Baptist Church. Leadership from the Church will also take part in the concert’s program.

The Christmas concert will take place at Friendship Baptist Church, located at 2400 Mortensen Road.

“We will also sing a few selections from the genre we have been working on throughout the semester,” Finley said. “We will have a few other talents displayed through the concert as well.”

The group’s workshops leading up to the concert typically entail warm-up exercises, reviewing previous material and learning new material by having musicians play songs in their own style.

Practices are a collaborative effort with members working together to find voice parts to fit the music that is played and learning lyrics and melodies.

“The concert line-up was decided as a group,” Finley said. “Members suggested songs during one of our music workshops. We sang through some of them just to get a feel for if we could execute them.”

The selection was shortened to best fit the group’s ability and will include a solo selection to showcase the different talents of student singers.

The concert line-up aims at getting those that attend in the mood for the season, according to Finley.

“I also hope that it will serve as a piece of encouragement for attendees who might be facing finals in the weeks following,” Finley said. “Finals before Christmas can be rough and hopefully those who attend this concert can start that period out with some peace.”

While the concert will be the group’s last event for the semester, the Gospel Choir will continue to host music workshops in the spring for those interested in playing or learning gospel music.

“I am looking forward to showing the campus and Ames community what we have been working on in the short amount of time we’ve been singing together,” Finley said. “What we’ve accomplished, I think, is truly amazing.”