What does it sound like when a chorus of female voices sing softly at the bedside of someone who is ill or dying? It sounds like an ancient art, which is exactly what it is. Bedside singing choirs now exist throughout the United States, offering solace to those who are on the threshold of life. Artist Leigh Davis has created a new site specific sound installation for Green-Wood’s Historic Chapel that brings this beautiful music into its sacred space. Visitors are encouraged to sit or move through the chapel at their own leisure. The work offers a way to explore the power of loss and memory through song, emphasizing the beauty and peace one might find in the universal experience of death.  Vigil is presented as part of Reimagining Tradition, an exhibition developed by Open Source Gallery. 

Before our gates open to the general public, birding expert Rob Jett leads these peaceful Sunday morning walking tours to discover the many birds that call Green-Wood home. By September, all our nesting birds’ offspring will be on their own. Returning warblers will be in their less flamboyant fall plumage. Large numbers of blackbirds, flycatchers, sparrows, vireos, and swallows will also be passing through. By October, waterfowl are returning, and we’ll look for raptors heading south. November will bring back our overwintering denizen from the north.

A perennial favorite! Get into the autumnal mood and enjoy a cool, crisp day exploring Green-Wood’s beautiful fall foliage. Historian Jeff Richman will lead this popular tour filled with tales of murder, mayhem, spirits, and the utterly bizarre. Visit the graves of The Wizard of Oz (actor, Frank Morgan), George Washington’s favorite dentist, the somewhat shady originator of Spiritualism, and many more. You’ll even get to tour Green-Wood’s Catacombs, usually closed to the public.