The Green-Wood Cemetery Presents VIGIL - An Audio Installation Featuring Voices Of The Threshold Choir

On September 21st, The Green-Wood Cemetery's Historic Chapel, a sacred space that has offered a place of solace and comfort for over a century, will welcome visitors to Vigil. A site-based audio installation by artist Leigh Davis, the work provides all who visit an opportunity to meditate and reflect on the universal experience of death and collective mourning.

Vigil engages the power of loss and memory through song. The work is rooted in Davis' membership with the Threshold Choir, a community of women who engage in the ancient tradition of bedside singing to the dying.

Created for four voices, Vigil is spiritual without being religious. The songs ("Beyond Weeping," "Rest in Each Breath," and "Offering") are to be encountered in an intimate, personal setting, where soft melodies offer space for reflection and remembrance. Written by long-time Choir member Annie Garretson and performed by Davis and fellow NYC Threshold Choir members, Dorothy Calvani, Winnie Lee, and Marcia Picciotto, the songs repeat in a continuous audio loop from 10:00am to 4:00pm daily from September 21st-October 19th. Entry is free.

Davis said, "Music is deeply nourishing and can stimulate greater depth, meaning, and connection as we mourn, providing subtle yet profoundly healing shifts in awareness. Vigil requests not only reception, but participation, to allow access to emotions, memories, and meditation, while igniting empathy for others' losses."

Harry Weil, Green-Wood's director of public programs and special projects, said, "As our nation continues to deal with incalculable losses and uncertainty from COVID-19, Green-Wood is deeply honored to present Leigh Davis' Vigil. The ethereal voices of the NYC Threshold Choir will bring peace, healing and comfort to all who experience this magnificent piece."

Visitors to the newly restored Historic Chapel, can sit with others or move around at their leisure. Strict safety measures will be enforced: all visitors will be required to wear a mask and keep a distance of at least 6 feet while in the Chapel.

The local chapter, Threshold Choir of New York City (TCNYC), is made up of talented and vibrant volunteers from all around New York City. TCNYC currently brings this service to hospitals, hospices, and private homes in the New York metropolitan area. The choir also sings at memorial services and community gatherings throughout the year.

For more information about Green-Wood, please visit www.green-wood.com.