Music is the universal language offering all kinds of people emotional connections to the thousands of lives that played out for better or worse in Perth’s earliest formational years.
East Perth Cemeteries Artist in Residence Dr Jonathan Fitzgerald is exploring the lives of former Swan River Colony Residents through extensive musical repertoire and new composition in a bold new National Trust of Australia (WA) program.
A Classical guitarist, Dr Fitzgerald is researching those buried at the cemeteries using the National Trust’s central archival database which includes many familiar names relating to Perth’s suburbs, streets and lakes as well as those unknown.
“I see this work as a rare privilege because it’s a contemporary musical response reflecting all aspects of life. Those who attend the performance at East Perth Cemeteries will become part of its narrative in a unique way,” said Dr Fitzgerald.
The National Trust’s artist in residence program is supported by composer Duncan Gardiner and the Perth Guitar Quartet which will perform the new composition and repertoire.
The project is funded by the Department of Culture and the Arts Connect Community Collections Program and the performance will feature in the 2016 Western Australian Heritage Festival. Keep updated on the Trust’s social media.
