Elisabeth von Trapp

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Elisabeth von Trapp
Born1955 (age 68–69)
OccupationMusician
SpouseEd Hall
ParentWerner von Trapp
RelativesAgatha Whitehead (grandmother)
Georg von Trapp (grandfather)

Elisabeth von Trapp (born 1955) is an American folk singer.[1]

Biography

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Elisabeth von Trapp is the granddaughter of Georg and Agathe Whitehead von Trapp and the daughter of Werner von Trapp.[2][3] The Trapp Family Singers, which Georg and his second wife Maria founded in Austria and brought with them to the United States when they left Austria in 1938, included Elisabeth's father, Werner von Trapp.[4]

The Family Singers disbanded in 1957, but Elisabeth grew up with her father's guitar playing and singing in and around the musical family's home, the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. She began taking piano lessons when she was eight, and by the age of 16 she was playing the guitar and traveling the back roads of New England to perform with her siblings at weddings, gospel meetings, and town halls.

Her musical style draws on many genres, including modern and Gregorian Chant, hymns, psalms, and works by Hildegard von Bingen. She has appeared with Erich Kory and has performed in the U.S., Russia, and Austria as well as European cathedrals and Washington, DC's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

References

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  1. ^ "From a Trapp, Sound of Music Underground". The New York Times. 18 June 1997. Retrieved 9 January 2011. Elisabeth von Trapp is a folk singer, and where better to serenade a whole lot of folks than among the underground masses? She recently ventured here from her home in Vermont to pass an audition for Music Under New York, a free music series sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority at several dozen stations...Subway stations are just the latest offbeat venue for Ms. von Trapp, an established artist who lives in Waitsfield, Vt., with Ed Hall, her husband and manager. She has performed in fields at weddings, in barns at folk festivals and on hilltops and mountains. She has also sung the national anthem three times at Boston's Fenway Park, which is no small feat, according to her husband.
  2. ^ "Werner von Trapp, a Son in 'Sound of Music' Family, Dies at 91". Associated Press in New York Times. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2009. Werner von Trapp, a member of the family made famous by the stage musical and the 1965 movie 'The Sound of Music,' died Thursday at his home in Waitsfield, Vt. He was 91.
  3. ^ "Granddaughter of 'Sound of Music' duo to perform". The Topeka Capital-Journal. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008. Her father, Werner, who was portrayed in the musical as the stoic Kurt, purchased a dairy farm about 35 miles south of the von Trapp family's New World homestead after he left the Trapp Family Singers...Werner von Trapp died Oct. 11, 2007, at age 91.
  4. ^ "Elisabeth von Trapp profile". The Kennedy Center. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008. Elisabeth von Trapp was born to a rich musical heritage. Granddaughter of the legendary Maria and Baron von Trapp, whose story inspired The Sound of Music, Elisabeth has carried on the legacy of the internationally renowned Trapp Family Singers. Singing professionally since childhood, Elisabeth has enchanted audiences from European cathedrals to the Kennedy Center.
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