News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Joseph Agnew, Thunder Bay Arts Community Chorus director, gets his sheet music set up for rehearsal at the Word of Life Baptist Church on Bagley Street on Monday evening.

ALPENA — The Thunder Bay Arts Community Chorus is holding its annual free Christmas concert at the Word of Life Baptist Church on Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

About 40 voices will sing in the choir, accompanied by the Word of Life Worship Team’s instruments and Pam Barkel as the accompanist.

“They should expect a full voice choir and a beautiful space with a wide variation of styles of Christmas music,” Choir Director Joseph Agnew said. “And they should expect that there’s going to be a lot of joy and a fair amount of music making — not just from the stage but from the audience as well.”

Agnew refers to the sing-along portion, where audience members can sing with the choir during festive and traditional carol songs.

Songs included in the setlist include long-standing tunes like “Wexford Carol” and a new rendition of “Sleigh Ride” that involves the choir and some percussion.

This is the Community Chorus’ second Christmas concert since shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Agnew’s third concert as director.

Agnew moved from Chicago, where he was a professional musician for 30 years, to Alpena in 2019 and began working with the Thunder Bay Arts Community Chorus two years ago.

“I was a director and director of music at a couple of churches,” Agnew said. “And then I also played in some regional orchestras and I sang with the Chicago Symphony for six years, too.”

Agnew said the Community Chorus has rehearsed ten times at the church, with each rehearsal taking about two hours.

“It’s a good group with a lot of talent,” Agnew said. “So we’ve been able to sort of push the envelope on the difficulty aspect of it and we’ve got some really challenging pieces. Pam’s the accompanist and she’s very fine.

“The last church program I ran and I’ve worked with world-class accompanists,” Agnew continued. “My organist had a doctorate in organ performance from Hawthorn University, like really high-level playing. Pam does not take a backseat to any of that. She’s really good.”

Pam Barkel had previously worked as the director for the Community Chorus but chose to take on the role of accompanist.

According to her, she’s excited to perform in the concert.

“I’m pumped,” Barkel said. “I love to accompany the choir and it’s a pleasure to work with Joseph, a delightful director, and it’s going to be a good concert. My fingers are in good form.”

While the concert is free, the choir is accepting donations during the event that will go to the Thunder Bay Arts for future events.

“The church is a beautiful space, but they’ve just been so generous, just so generous and kind with their space and with the program,” Agnew said. “And there are several members of the church that have joined the choir.”