Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/20776
Melanie in Africa. Justin, Amanda, Melanie and Sofia performing in Belgium. The children with their parents, Annie and Stefan von Trapp, at their Montana home. smiled and sometimes cried at the children’s beautiful blending and the way their faces glowed and eyes sparkled when they sang. Stefan and Annie watched quietly and thought- fully as something powerful and mysterious began to take hold. It began to take shape when Stefan’s father, Werner, could not make his annual visit to Montana after suffering a stroke. The family de- cided to record a CD for the children’s grandfa- ther, or “Opa” as they fondly call him. Everyone who heard the CD knew it was special. Requests for appearances began to flood into their lives and they found themselves at a turning point. They loved their simple Montana life, but whispering in the background were the words of their grandfather, who had shared his music in the first generation of von Trapp Family Singers, “When one has gifts, he also has a respon- sibility to share those gifts.” They had a family meeting and made a life-changing decision to begin sharing their music as the von Trapp Children. They handed their destiny over to God—and as it turned out—to a worldwide audience who was eager to experience the hopefulness, the integrity, and the family values of another generation of von Trapps. Curious coincidences wove into their unfolding musi- cal career. For instance, when they traveled to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for their first major performance, they discovered that it was the same town where their ances- tors, the Trapp Family Singers, also gave their first major American performance. Another booking took them to Ground Zero where the grim task of body retrieval weighed down the firemen’s spirits like the heavy protective gear they wore. The children began singing and made the weary firemen smile and even laugh when the mischievous Justin made faces behind his sister’s backs. Sofia says they know the warm acceptance they receive is often because The Sound of Music encapsulates a happy childhood memory for people. She notes, “It’s quite a phe- nomena.” This may have opened doors for them, but once they hit the stage and begin singing, audiences fall in love all over again. The von Trapps sing many of the old favorites 46 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • WINTER 2011