NATCHEZ &8212; Music has led to healing for a New Orleans chorus coming to Natchez to perform Friday.

The Jefferson Chorale will present a free concert at 7 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church.

Disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, the Aug. 29 storm that devastated their hometown, the chorus has come together stronger than ever, said Louise LaBruyere, director.

&8220;Katrina made me very aware how important this fellowship is to all of us,&8221; LaBruyere said. &8220;It also made me aware of the healing power of music.&8221;

As members began to trickle back to the city, LaBruyere made a decision. &8220;I told all of them that I was going to start holding rehearsals every Thursday,&8221; she said. &8220;At the first rehearsal, 30 showed up. There are more every week, and we&8217;ve built back up to more than 50.&8221;

At 50, the chorus is at about its pre-Katrina number. And in no time, the group was ready to get out to sing again. Their repertoire has changed slightly for their new concert, LaBruyere said.

&8220;It&8217;s called &8216;After the Storm,&8217;&8221; LaBruyere said. &8220;The first portion is all weather-related songs.&8221;

The songs include &8220;Stormy Weather&8221; and &8220;Singing in the Rain,&8221; for example.

The second part of the concert sings to the spirit of post-Katrina New Orleans, honoring the people from around the country as well as those in New Orleans who helped the city to begin its recovery.

&8220;That&8217;s when we&8217;ll sing &8216;Bridge over Troubled Water,&8217;&8221; LaBruyere said. &8220;And we&8217;ll sing a group of spirituals, also.&8221;

The group realized that their reaction to the storm was prayer. &8220;That is what helped us to get through it and over it,&8221; she said.

The third part of the program is about &8220;coming back home,&8221; she said. &8220;These will be songs people know about New Orleans, like &8220;Basin Street Blues.&8221;

The Jefferson Chorale travels once each year. The 2006 trip was to be to Spain. &8220;We couldn&8217;t do that this year,&8221; she said. &8220;We thought coming to Natchez where there is a group of people and a place where there is understanding of what has happened to us would be a good thing.&8221;

Some of the chorale&8217;s members took refuge in Natchez, she said. &8220;And we&8217;ll have a good time visiting your city. We plan to tour houses and the winery.&8221;

On Sunday, the chorus will sing during the 10 a.m. service at First Presbyterian. The service is open to all who want to come, said Becky Jones, music director at the church and the one who helped to organize the Friday concert.

On Sunday, the chorus will sing Mozart&8217;s &8220;Ave Verum,&8221; two spirituals, including &8220;Balm in Gilead,&8221; and a piece written by LaBruyere for the ordination of a minister who is a member of the choir, &8220;Give Ear, O Heaven.&8221;

Some members of the choir have not returned and probably will not return to New Orleans, LaBruyere said. All members have realized &8220;what an emptiness there was when we could not sing together,&8221; she said.

The chorus is affiliated with the Jefferson Performing Arts Society, which had its beginning 20-plus or 30 years ago, she said. &8220;It started when the director of the chorus got a group of church choirs to perform &8216;The Messiah,&8217;&8221; she said. &8220;Now we&8217;re the oral wing of the JPAS, and we have become financially independent from them since the hurricane.&8221;

Pianist Kristin Albarado will accompany the chorale on piano.