Concerts to bring cemetery to life
Karrakatta Cemetery will host concerts in its outdoor chapel this month to encourage more public engagement beyond mourners at funerals and people visiting the graves of loved ones.
The Saturday afternoon concerts and app-assisted heritage trails at Karrakatta and Fremantle cemeteries are attempts to demystify the final resting places for hundreds of thousands of WA people, the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board says.
"It is actually getting people in to enjoy the grounds and have a look at the beautiful cemetery environment in a respectful form," spokesman Andrew Fox said.
Karrakatta's Garden Chapel will host three concerts by Academy of Performing Arts jazz and classical musicians starting on Saturday, April 11 at 4.30pm.
Mr Fox said the music would be "appropriate and respectful" and $15 tickets would just cover costs.
"It is to gauge the community reaction to see whether people like to come in for alternative reasons," Mr Fox said.
"It is very much to demystify the cemetery environment."
The 98ha Karrakatta site has one of WA's biggest rose gardens. It has open days and is often used for wedding photos.
The self-guided heritage trails, assisted by a QR-code phone app, take in the graves of Edith Cowan, John Curtin, John Forrest and Walter Murdoch.
Popular graves at Fremantle are AC/DC's Bon Scott, bushranger Moondyne Joe, engineer C.Y. O'Connor, serial killer Edgar Cooke and Martha Rendell, the only female hanged at Fremantle.
_The concerts feature classical singers Daniella Sicari and Madeleine Joyce, saxophonist Marc Osborne and his band and a jazz trio led by pianist Brodie Stewart. _
Details at mcb.wa.gov.au
