Editor’s note: The following article contained incorrect information on the time of the concert. The correct time is listed below. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight.

NATCHEZ — One of the nation’s most famous choir directors will lead a choir of his peers in a free concert this week.

The Mississippi Chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association will have its annual three-day workshop in Natchez this week, and the conference will end with a free choral performance at St. Mary Basilica under the direction by Mack Wilberg, the conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The concert will be 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The choir will be composed of members of the choral director’s association, John Flanery with the association said.

“We are going to form three different chamber choirs and will sing some literature for 25 to 20 minutes, and we will close with Dr. Wilberg conducting all 85 of us singing six pieces that are his own compositions.”

The association had a similar concert after its conference last year, but the event — while open to the public — wasn’t advertised.

“Afterwards, the people who did come said, ‘This is great, and we can’t believe we didn’t have more people here,’” Flanery said

“It’s a great event, and we are happy to be in Natchez and share it with the people here. (St. Mary Basilica) is such a gorgeous room and a treasure of our state, and as a person who lives in Hattiesburg, we don’t have a room that sounds like that.”

Ruth McWilliams helped coordinate the event at St. Mary Basilica for the choir directors, and attended last year’s event.

“They did an extremely professional job, especially considering that they don’t usually perform together,” she said.

“It is extremely good in light of the fact that they had put this together during their workshop and then have it performance-ready by Wednesday night — it’s an incredible feat.”

Even though the conference is for the Mississippi choral director’s association, Flanery said it will feel like more of a regional conference because choir directors from Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida will also attend.

“We are all professional musicians because we get paid to do what we do, but the fun of this is that as directors, we don’t often get to sing, and we don’t often get to sing together,” he  said.

As the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Wilberg oversees all musical and creative aspects of America’s most famous choral body. He’s a former professor of music at Brigham Young University, and an active clinician, composer, pianist, arranger and guest conductor in venues around the world.