The quiet buzz of downtown Pullman was interrupted by the sound of wind and brass instruments tuning last Thursday. Auf Gehts ...

Cue the musicians of the Beethoven Concert Band, the venue's all-volunteer ensemble that meets for monthly performances of authentic German folk music, 1940s-era jazz and patriotic standards.

Roger Whittaker performs a medley of his German language songs during the dress rehearsal of a German folk music TV show in Chemnitz, Germany, on Jan. 12, 2007.

He is a hybrid himself, the offspring of a German father and an Ecuadorian mother. He grew up in a German-speaking community in Virginia, exposed to multiple languages and styles of folk music.

A local Christmas tree farm owned by a retired schoolteacher is raising money for the state’s top ranked high school German folk dancing team.