It was only fitting that a memorial service for Australian music legend Judith Durham should be an evening filled with music.
The lead singer of folk group The Seekers died in August aged 79, following complications arising from a long-standing lung disease.
Crowds filed into Melbourne's Hamer Hall to the sounds of live jazz for the service on Tuesday evening, hosted by Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Di Kerr offered a welcome to country with her own teenage memories of the star singer.
"Morningtown, we all thought we were going on a train to Mornington because we lived in Moorabbin," she said, referencing the Seekers tune Morningtown Ride.
Soprano Deborah Cheetham then sang Long Time Living Here with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra string quartet, before the Australian Children's Choir sang the national anthem, and Vika and Linda Bull sang a duet accompanied on ukulele and double bass.
Judith Durham's nephew Tony Sheehan gave a eulogy including stories from her childhood, growing up with a father who played the piano and a mother who hoped her children would be musical.
"Hazel's abiding wish was that her children not be tone deaf. She got her wish," he said.
"Divine singer, voice of a generation and faultlessly generous soul, we will miss you, but we are so proud of you."
Durham made her first recording at 19, and achieved worldwide fame after joining The Seekers in 1963.
The band, also including Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley, climbed the charts in the 1960s with hits including The Carnival is Over, A World of Our Own and Georgy Girl.
They became the first Australian band to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and United States, eventually selling 50 million records.
Durham embarked on a solo career in 1968, recording with The Seekers again in the 1990s.
