Sponsored by
The Gospel Truth
Six years into its existence the Limerick Gospel Choir is going from strength to strength under its musical director Kathleen Turner. They release their debut album on May 15, writes Petula Martyn
'If everybody sang the same note in life's choir, there would never be harmony.'
Nestled on Denmark Street in Limerick city, St Michael's Church plays host to rehearsals by the soulful singers of Limerick Gospel Choir.
Sitting in a pew in the sacred space listening to harmonious renditions of 'I Will Follow Him' is the most uplifting experience anybody could hope to enjoy in the city on a Tuesday evening.
It is easy to sing the praises of Limerick Gospel Choir; their performances are captivating and the choir, which is in its sixth year, has steadily grown in stature thanks in no small part to musical director, Kathleen Turner.
The members of the choir wax lyrical about Kathleen and the major contribution she has made since she joined them three years ago.
They take great pride in their reputation for putting gospel into contemporary numbers or putting a contemporary twist on classic gospel tunes. Their enthusiasm and love of choral music is catching. You will find yourself singing along.
Some travel from as far as Shanagolden, and County Clare to sing their parts in the choir, and it is not just because they love gospel music
So what is so special about Limerick Gospel Choir?
"To have a good choir there are a few different ingredients that you have to have," Kathleen explains.
"You have to have the enthusiasm and the real love of the music. You also have to be there to have fun, to really enjoy and not take it too seriously. Be willing to work and get better and to be good to each other, which might not be something that you would associate with singing, but I think it is very important when you are working and singing together in a community.
"And I think this choir has all of those ingredients. They love to sing, they work hard to get better, they really listen and really concentrate, and they really look after each other, and every time they sing, they throw their whole souls into it. It is not every day that you get all of those things in one choir."
She might list several key ingredients for a successful choir, but she is the key ingredient for the success of Limerick Gospel Choir, according to all its members.
"That was just the best thing ever," said Richella Huges when she recalled Kathleen joining the group as musical director.
"We were so lucky to get Kathleen on board. She has a huge talent. I mean we have come on in leaps and bounds. We've grown in size, we've grown in repetoire. We have four part harmonies now, and she brings a great energy to the choir, and that's what I like the most. I work by day as a financial controller which is quite a demanding and stressful job, so you like to have a release when you come in the evening and that's exactly what the music brings."
"She is fabulous," said Eugene Burke of High Meadows. "She's a great asset to the choir. She can work with us and try out different things with us, whereas she might be used to working with younger groups. Kathleen is excellent, excellent."
Kathleen says, however, "I think I was the fortunate one really, because it was my first experience conducting a choir. It was my first opportunity to be a musical director so it was them taking a chance on me rather than the other way around. We've definitely grown together which has been lovely."
The choir was chosen as one of only six choirs from across the country to take part in An Cor, an Irish language choral singing competition which was aired in March during Seachtain na Gaeilge on RTE television.
They faced the challenge of giving a traditional Irish song - An Poc ar Buile - a gospel flavour. In their trademark, bright blue and red robes, they filled the TV screens with colour and sang their rearranged version of the song acapella.
"It was so different for us to learn a gospel song in Irish," said Rachel Prior from Meelick, who along with her mother Marian, is a long-time singer with the choir.
"We have a few Irish teachers in the choir so they really helped us along."
The choir went on to take second place in the Festival of Sacred Music at the Augustinian Church in March this year.
"I was very pleasantly surprised at the reaction at the competition in the Augustinians," said Nick Naughton who has been a member of the choir for two years.
"The applause, it was more than just a standard applause. It is a nice added bonus to get an applause like that."
Kathleen admits the recent exposure and recognition has given the choir a boost.
"It's been great because the choir has been able to track their progress and feel like we are getting better and better every time."
Rachel loves that audiences enjoy the songs they sing as much as they love singing them.
"We have to keep an eye on Kathleen all the time so that we don't make any mistakes, but the eye wanders to see the reaction. I love to see everyone enjoying it. People do come up to us after mass and they say that they might have been upset and they went home happy having heard us."
The choir is looking forward to more success when they launch their first album, aptly entitled 'I Believe', on May 15 next. Fans can look forward to listening to their favourites including 'Lean On Me', 'Precious Lord' and 'Oh Happy Day'.
"I have friends that I would never have made if I didn't come to the choir," smiled Richella. "It is great that everybody has this one thing in common. We've got nurses, ambulance drivers, teachers, and then we all have this one thing in common in the evening, which is great."
Email to a friend
Print this page- First drift karting facility in Europe is ready to take off on outskirts of Limerick
- Newport gun victim is mourned at funeral in Limerick city
- Man appears in court following County Limerick drugs seizure
- Protest march in Parteen over preferred route of relief road
- Luxury eight-bed home in Adare now on sale for €1.9m
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Limerick
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 8 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
