November 10, 2016
The Addison Independent
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Maiden Vermont welcomes Elisabeth von Trapp to Salisbury Elementary for a rehearsal before their two performances at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury on Saturday. INDEPENDENT PHOTO/TRENT CAMPBELL
‘Hills are Alive’ with Maidens & Trapp
L
adies and gentlemen, heat up those curlers, shine those shoes and get ready to roll out the red carpet, because a celebrity’s coming to town. Elisabeth von Trapp — yup, the same von Trapp family that influenced the making of the classic and beloved film The Sound of Music — will be singing two shows with Maiden Vermont at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
BY ELSIE LYNN PARINI
Wait? Back up, how exactly did Addison County’s barbershop chorus convince a soloist star like von Trapp to perform with them?
But Sontum ran it by Bourtney anyway, and Bourtney jumped at the opportunity. “My mother taught me to ask,” Bourtney said. “If you don’t ask, you never know.” After a few scheduling conflicts, they secured this week for two performances — that was almost two years ago. Sontum sends a big thank you to the Town Hall Theater and their resident groups for shifting their schedules to accommodate von Trapp’s availability. Last week, von Trapp joined the Maidens for one, and only one, rehearsal at Salisbury Elementary.
“There was a lot of begging,” Maiden Vermont director Lindi Bourtney blurted with a giggle.
“She was wonderful,” said Bourtney. “She was very complimentary of us.”
No really? Well, Cathy Sontum (who joined the Maidens 10 years ago) and her husband Steve were listening to one of Elisabeth von Trapp’s holiday albums in winter 2014 and had the idea. “It was really Steve’s idea,” said Sontum. “Quite honestly I didn’t think she would be able to come and sing with us.”
ELISABETH VON TRAPP
“Maiden Vermont is a wonderful group of upbeat and vibrant women who take their music seriously, but deliver their program of eclectic songs with joyful enthusiasm, sincerity and clarity of tone,” von Trapp wrote in a post-rehearsal email. “It was a pleasure to hear them singing such mellifluous and smooth harmonies. Their music is charmingly touching, uplifting and cheerful.” SEE MAIDENS ON PAGE 4