Julie Andrews Will Host Annual PBS New Year's Day Concert

Julie Andrews will be the host of the Annual New Year's Day concert on PBS. The show will feature the Vienna Philharmonic.

Academy Award winner Andrews is following in the host-footsteps of Walter Cronkite. Cronkite hosted the Annual New Year's Day concert for over two decades.

Over one billion viewers are expected to tune in to the program. Conductor Daniel Barenboim will lead the orchestra, and Decca Classics will release the concert will be released on DVD.

Andrews will go out to Vienna December 5th to begin production on the annual holiday special.

"As much as I will be a hostess, I will also be a tourist," she told AP. "I just think it's a lovely tradition. It's something that makes everybody feel good. The great Strauss music is so enjoyable, it all seems to fit in with the happiness of the new year."

Julie Andrews has been a beloved and much-honored star of stage, screen and television for more than half a century. Her career is an exciting blend of unique facets through which is woven a common thread bearing her undeniable imprint of elegance and integrity.

Ms. Andrews made her Broadway debut at the age of 19 in The Boyfriend. She then went on to create the role of ‘Eliza Doolittle' in the stage production of My Fair Lady and subsequently ‘Guinevere' in Camelot. She received an Academy award for Best Actress in her first film, "Mary Poppins," and was nominated for her performance in "The Sound of Music," one of the most successful motion pictures of all time. Her crystalline singing voice, wholesome appeal, natural elegance and sly humor made her a top box office draw around the world.

In 1989 she became the first actress to be given the special Tribute award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. During the course of her career she has also won five Golden Globe awards; two for being the world's favorite actress and one for her performance in the film "Victor/Victoria," a role she reprised on stage for the Broadway production in 1995. Julie Andrews

And, while the world has known Ms. Andrews and long savored the magic of her artistry in film, television, on stage and recordings, she continues to seek new and challenging opportunities through which to ply her seemingly endless talents.

In 2000 Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame Commander of the British Empire. Ms. Andrews is also involved with several charities including the United Nations International Fund for Women, Operation USA - an international relief agency, Save the Children and the Foundation for Hereditary Disease.

In addition to her work for many charitable organizations, Ms. Andrews has authored a number of books for children. The Julie Andrews Collection, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, was launched in October 2003 with four releases. Already an accomplished best selling author (Mandy, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, Little Bo and Dumpy the Dump Truck) Ms. Andrews has joined talents with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, to pursue the publishing of books committed to stimulating a sense of wonder in children and young readers.

Today's film audiences most recently saw her as a queen trying to train her teenaged granddaughter to be a princess in "The Princess Diaries," 1 and 2. She is also known as the voice of Queen Lillian in "Shrek 2."

Ms. Andrews has the elegance, artistry and integrity that compliment her enduring dedication to her work and her fellow man as she continues her illustrious career. From her Broadway stage triumphs, her many motion picture successes added to her long list of top rated television specials and a recording career equaled by few, there can be little doubt that Ms. Andrews is truly an entertainment phenomenon.