Guiding the memorial were masters of ceremony, Brian Nankervis and Julia Zemiro – hosts of SBS music quiz show RocKwiz. Soaring performances by soprano Deborah Cheetham and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra string quartet of Long Time Living Here and the national anthem sung by the Australian Children’s Choir punctuated the evening.

Victorian Governor Linda Dessau said, although she might not have known Durham personally, she, like so many, felt she knew her through her music.

“Durham and The Seekers have been a part of our lives as far back as I can remember,” she said.

“Like so many other young Australians, I used my savings from pocket money ... to buy their albums and singles for my record player, I listened to them on my transistor [radio] at the beach.

“A national treasure, an icon, a trailblazer, a shining star, a pioneering woman ... the feeling is: we’ll never find another you.”

Having joined the band in 1963, Durham’s crystalline voice quickly rose to prominence across the folk/pop music scene, receiving the honour of being named Australian of the Year alongside her bandmates just four years after her debut with the group.

The Seekers went on to produce a string of hits, including The Carnival is Over – which sold more than 90,000 copies a day at its peak – Turn, Turn, Turn and Georgy Girl, which narrowly missed out on an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1967.

The Essendon-born Melburnian parted ways with The Seekers in 1968 to pursue a solo career, releasing albums such as For Christmas with Love and Climb Ev’ry Mountain, continued touring and even wrote the musical Gotta Be Rainbows alongside Ian Austin.

Highlighting the massive popularity of Durham and The Seekers during the ’60s, Wurundjeri elder Aunty Di Kerr said: “we were dancing in the streets thinking we were Georgy Girl. Morningtown, we thought we were on the train to Mornington.”

To celebrate the joy and power in Durham’s music, the memorial featured several live performances including her 2013 solo hit Jelly Bean Blues, performed by Durham’s sister, Beverley Sheehan.

Other Seeker classics were played, such as The Carnival is Over (performed by David Campbell), Colours of My Life (sung by Dami Im), When the Stars Begin to Fall (performed by Vika and Linda Bull), and a video tribute of Morningtown Road by The Wiggles.

The evening fittingly concluded with Carry Me – a previously unheard song by The Seekers, composed by Bruce Woodley with Durham on vocals. The remaining members of the group, Keith Potger, Woodley and Athol Guy, decided to play it as a special tribute to their departed friend.

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As guests filed out of Hamer Hall, the sound of Durham’s powerful voice remained.

One of a kind and lastingly influential, Australia will never find another Judith Durham.

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