The sound of music

Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
Elisabeth Von Trapp, “from the family whose story inspired ‘The Sound of Music,’” will be live in Newcastle at the Crouch Auditorium on March 5, as part of the Weston County Concert Association’s 2019 lineup. 
Von Trapp is the third of four concerts in the 2019 series, according to association President Jan Ellis. Every year the concert association brings a variety of entertainment to Newcastle, selling memberships that include all local events, as well as concerts and shows in other towns, such as Belle Fourche and Hot Springs in South Dakota. 
Von Trapp promises to bring the “Sound of Music” to the Crouch Auditorium stage, the same sounds that fill her earliest memories, according to the biography on the performer. 
“Born and raised in Vermont, Elisabeth is the granddaughter of the legendary Maria and Baron Von Trapp, whose story inspired ‘The Sound of Music,’” the biography states. “Singing professionally since childhood, Elisabeth has enthralled audiences from European cathedrals to the Kennedy Center.” 
Von Trapp was inspired to begin her musical career by the guitar playing and singing of her father Werner Von Trapp. She began taking piano lessons at age 8, and by the time she was 16, she was playing guitar and traveling the back roads of New England performing with her siblings at weddings, gospel meetings and town halls. 
Today, she carries on the “legacy of the internationally renowned Trapp Family Singers. … Building on her famed family’s passion for music, Elisabeth has created her own artistic style, at once ethereal and earthy, delicate and powerful,” the biography states. “Listeners have likened her to Judy Collins and Loreena McKennit. Critics have called her voice hauntingly clear, joyfully expressive and simply beautiful.”
Von Trapp promises to bring favorites from loved musical to the local stage during her performance with songs such as “My Favorite Things,” “All the Things You Are,” “Climb Every Mountain,” “Edelweiss,” “So Long, Farewell” and “The Sound of Music.” 
Doors for the concert will be open to non-membership holders, although Ellis said that the cost will be the same as though the person purchased the membership for the entire season. 
“Students are allowed entrance for $5 at any concert, as our board adopted this policy last spring,” Ellis said. “We only sell tickets at the door for “out of county” guests of our members or students.” 
She noted that this is the only way the association can continue to bring high-quality entertainment to the local stage at economic prices. Adult memberships are $40 for the season, which Ellis noted is less than concerts in other places and that the membership includes concert options in Belle Fourche, Rapid City and Hot Springs.