A group of Homewood-Flossmoor High School students who individually raise their voices at church on Sunday come together during the week to sing as the H-F Inspirational Voices.
Their music has been entertaining groups and organizations through the South Suburbs the past 18 years. Their practices are not as intense or organized as the Viking Choir, but this group of eight enjoys raising their voices in song.
Inspirational Voices, with Director Ivan Davenport, left,
entertained at a local nursing home during the holiday
season. (Provided photo)
A group of Homewood-Flossmoor High School students who individually raise their voices at church on Sunday come together during the week to sing as the H-F Inspirational Voices.
Their music has been entertaining groups and organizations through the South Suburbs the past 18 years. Their practices are not as intense or organized as the Viking Choir, but this group of eight enjoys raising their voices in song.
Members of the ensemble are Sierrah Banks, Brittany Gibbs, Dominique Gibbs, Samantha Gibbs, Lillian Gosha, Shelby Jackson, Maurice Merritt and Nacyla Mitchell.
This past year, they have sung for senior living facilities in Flossmoor, Olympia Fields and Country Club Hills, according to H-F staff member Donna Brumfield, who is the group’s sponsor. On Veterans’ Day, they entertained at Hines VA Hospital. For Black History Month, they will be at the South Suburban PADS Wellness Center, at Sunrise Senior Facility and Trinity Christian College.
“Once they go (and entertain) they’re always invited back,” said Brumfield. They typically sing eight to 10 songs in a 45-minute session, and afterward they visit with the audience.
“We’re a club and we want to go and inspire people,” said Lillian Gosha, a senior, who has been in the group for two years.
H-F special education staff member Ivan Davanport serves as the Inspirational Voices musical director. He is also the music director at his church, Our Lady Gate of Heaven in Chicago.
Davanport often shares his musical repertoire with Inspirational Voices, but says members also bring in their own favorites for consideration. He will also include secular pieces and holiday songs.
He said giving time to the group each week is a pleasure because the students have “the joy of singing, and I get the joy of getting young people to love something that I’ve loved for a very, very long time.”