The von Trapps to perform at BYU-Idaho - East Idaho News
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The von Trapps to perform at BYU-Idaho

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The following is a news release from Brigham Young University-Idaho.

REXBURG ­­­— The von Trapps will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, in the Kirkham Auditorium at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg.

As the great-grandchildren of the Captain and Maria von Trapp, the four von Trapp siblings are reinventing the legacy of their birthright for the modern age.

The von Trapps’ musical journey began as a fluke and a brainstorm in 2001. During summer visits to their Montana home, their grandfather Werner von Trapp taught them the Austrian folk songs he loved as a child. When he became too ill to travel, they crafted a homemade recording to cheer him up, never expecting it would inspire a career in music.

The von Trapps have been on stage together ever since. Their performances make room for melodicas and ukuleles, lyrics that can unspool in 10 languages, twinges of Appalachia and Portlandia, some shout-outs to the Mamas & Papas, all filtered through the DNA of the most beloved musical ever, “The Sound of Music.”

They have toured extensively, from Beijing’s Forbidden City to the Sydney Opera House, performed with major symphonies across the country, appeared on “Oprah,” and recorded with artists such as Wayne Newton and Rufus Wainwright.

For the past few years, The von Trapps have been frequent guest performers with Pink Martini, the globetrotting pop sensation. The two groups collaborated on Pink Martini’s eighth studio album, “Dream a Little Dream,” released in March 2014.

Emboldened by that collaboration, flourishing in the rich creative world of their adopted hometown of Portland, Ore., and burgeoning with new ideas, the von Trapps cast off on their own to trail blaze a new musical path.

As the von Trapps told Rolling Stone magazine, “This new chapter in our career feels very electric; I think our current sound is super fresh, personal and fun. Fourteen years of touring the world together has given each of us a well of inspiration, and we are at a point where all of that energy is overflowing. How each of us blend our styles together is both a challenge and a thrilling discovery for us, yet this first creation, ‘Dancing in Gold,’ found a wonderfully surprising and compelling place. We’re eager to see how our music manifests itself moving forward.”

Tickets for the Center Stage concert are $16 for the general public and $8 for BYU-Idaho students. Tickets can be purchased at the BYU-Idaho Ticket Office, by calling 496-3170 or online at tickets.byui.edu.

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