Vermont's Own Sound Of Music Marks 61st Anniversary

By Dan Cohen

Sixty-one years ago, the "Sound of Music" was released in the U.S. - March 2, 1965.

It became one of the highest-grossing films.

Just like in the movie, the family formed a musical group and sang around the world between 1934 and 1956.

The family settled and built a home in Stowe, Vermont in the early 1940’s that became the Trapp Family Lodge.

The von Trapp family isn't just characters from The Sound of Music - they're a real family.

Premiering on March 2, 1965, the film is based on the 1959 Broadway musical of the same name.

It follows the story of Maria (Julie Andrews), a free-spirited nun who falls in love with widowed naval officer Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer).

Maria marries von Trapp and teaches his seven children to sing.

The five-time Oscar-winning movie, available to stream on Disney+, cemented itself as a beloved classic.

It all began with the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, the real-life matriarch of the von Trapp family.

Long before they were portrayed as a charming, musical household on the stage and screen, the von Trapps were an actual family singing troupe who captured the hearts of audiences across Europe and North America for decades.