Richella ‘Whoppi’ Hughes is a member of the Limerick Gospel Choir who took part in the ‘Limerick Sings’ festival last weekend. The Cork Road native explains how Rihanna and Kanye West make it to Mass on Denmark Street every Sunday and why the choir are liable to burst into song on random nights out.
The choir has been going 11 years. I joined nine years ago after seeing the Harlem Gospel Choir perform at UL. I was just blown away by the energy. Over time, I got the nickname Whoppi after Whoppi Goldberg in Sister Act. I’ve seen that movie a 100 times. I can never sit still watching it.
Today we have around 30 members ranging in age from 18 to 60. There’s a great mix and we have brilliant craic. We practice every Tuesday night in St Michael’s Church. I’ve gone in there on my happiest day and my saddest day but either way, once you start singing, you forget about everything and the music literally takes over.
We’re mostly female and are always on the lookout for male voices; they make such a strong addition to the overall sound. My partner Peter is also a member. We both love singing and it’s great that we can share this hobby together.
The choir sings a mixture of religious and contempory songs and sometimes mixes them up. For example, we incorporate Rihanna’s ‘Shine like a Diamond’ into ‘This Little Light of Mine’ and Kanye’s beats into ‘Go Down Moses’. You don’t have to be a Christian to sing gospel. We have people of all religions in the choir.
Every now and then, we go out and are quite liable to burst into song. We went to Chocolat for our summer night last year and had the whole restaurant going. We even have our own snug in Nancy’s. We mostly do acappella singing without instruments so it’s no bother for us to just take off, especially after a bevie or two.
We also do weddings. At one Foynes wedding, the bride and groom had left for the reception but the guests stayed on to hear us. We literally had to sing ‘Cheeiro Cheerio Cheerio ‘ to get them going.
Children in particular react very well to gospel music. It allows them to shuffle about without sitting still and being all holy holy. Gospel is about expressing yourself with your voice and body.
We got a new musical director, Hannah Fahey, earlier this year. She’s a graduate in Voice and Dance at the University of Limerick, where she is currently studying for a Masters in Ritual Chant and Song. We won first place in the Gospel Choir category at the Limerick Choral Festival in March. We were over the moon.
To be recognised for something you love doing is such a buzz.
