Julie Andrews to Host PBS' 'From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration' Special

Stage and screen legend Julie Andrews returns for the third time to host the merry annual New Year's celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of Mariss Jansons from Vienna's Musikverein.

"It's kind of a wonderful picture-postcard, particularly the way PBS frames it," Andrews tells Zap 2 It. "And, of course, the music is spectacular and so is the Musikverein."

Andrews was scheduled to host last year as well, but was replaced by Paula Zahn after the death of her husband, director Blake Edwards. "It's a good thing to be doing this year," Andrews says. "It helps."

The venerable concert is the largest world-wide event in classical music reaching over a billion people annually through radio and television in 72 countries. The Vienna Philharmonic's traditional New Year's program has showcased Viennese musical culture at the highest level, and since the first television broadcast in 1959, sent the world a New Year's greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace. (The telecast has been a Great Performances tradition on PBS since 1985.)

"It is always a privilege and a wonderful spoiling to visit Vienna, especially at holiday time," Andrews says; "The sights and sounds are glorious and I bask in the irresistible music all around me, particularly the beautiful Strauss waltzes."

From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2012, featuring the infectious melodies of the Strauss Family and contemporaries, will air live Sunday, January 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) with an encore performance that evening at 7:30 p.m. (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the broadcast at 9 p.m.)