VH1 Save the Music Foundation to Honor Julie Andrews at the 2010 Gala Presented by LG Mobile Phones

NEW YORK, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, November 8th, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation will honor, a living legend, Julie Andrews along with previously announced Grammy® Award Winners John Legend, John Mayer and The ASCAP Foundation. Paul Williams, the legendary songwriter, and now president of ASCAP, will accept on behalf of the Foundation. Natasha Bedingfield, a member of the VH1 Save the Music Alumni Ambassador Group is scheduled to perform. The program for the evening will celebrate music as universal language that shapes our life stories and include a special tribute to the 45th Anniversary of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.

"The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is delighted to honor Julie Andrews at our 2010 Gala," said Paul Cothran, Executive Director of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. "To have the opportunity to celebrate such an incredible talent and individual is a privilege and we are thrilled to have her take part in what will be an unforgettable evening. She joins fellow honorees John Mayer, John Legend and The ASCAP Foundation who have all generously given their time, talent and money to advance the Foundation's mission of ensuring that no child be denied the opportunity to receive a complete music education."

No one captures the joy of teaching music to children more perfectly than Julie Andrews in her unforgettable role as Maria von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.  Ms. Andrews has served as a passionate advocate of arts and literacy throughout her career. A 2001 Kennedy Center Honoree, Ms. Andrews has dedicated herself to positively affecting the lives of children everywhere through her work on stage, screen, television, and through her "voice" as a successful author and publisher of 30 children's books through her Julie Andrews Collection. Broadway royalty since her debut in 1953, Ms. Andrews is the recipient of multiple awards including an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and an Emmy. Best known for her memorable roles in The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady and Camelot, Ms. Andrews has achieved multi-generational appeal with the releases of The Princess Diaries, Shrek 2, 3 and 4, The Tooth Fairy and this summer's mega-hit, Despicable Me.

In response to receiving the honour from the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, Ms. Andrews said, "My passion for music, the arts and literacy has been a life-long endeavor…. and the ability to play in those sand boxes professionally has given me such joy. With the state of the economy as it is and the cutbacks impacting the arts, it is now more important than ever that we aggressively preserve the ability for our youth to benefit from all that music, the arts and literacy has to afford. I am truly honored."

To mark the 45th Anniversary of the most popular movie musical of all time, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company – will present an exclusive online auction to benefit VH1 Save The Music, entitled "My Favorite Things" inspired by one of The Sound of Music's signature tunes. The auction will be held in conjunction with VH1 Save The Music's 2010 Gala and feature fantastic experiential packages, including meet & greets with new and alumni Ambassadors and artists who support the Foundation's mission, an exclusive Cirque du Soleil ticket package to Wintuk and Viva Elvis and a Broadway show package with tickets to Memphis and Jersey Boys along with a cast meet & greet.  The online auction will kick off at: charitybuzz.com/myfavoritethings on November 3rd, continuing through November 23rd.  Guests at the Gala will also be able to bid electronically during the cocktail reception. VH1 Save The Music's Ambassadors include: Beyonce, Natasha Bedingfield, Ne-Yo, Nick Lachey, Mandy Moore, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Fall Out Boy, Colbie Caillat, OneRepublic, Chrisette Michele, Chris Webber, Venus Williams, The Fray, Jamie Foxx, 3 Doors Down, Gavin DeGraw, Tamia and John Rzeznik.

The VH1 Save The Music Foundation's 2010 Gala Honorees join an esteemed group of past honorees that include Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Grammy award- winning superstar, Mariah Carey, NAMM, the International Music Products Association, and Founder and Vice Chairman of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation John Sykes. The night will celebrate the Foundation's ongoing commitment to ensuring that a greater number of students receive a comprehensive music education and is sponsored by LG Mobile Phones, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Anheuser-Busch, GREY GOOSE® Vodka, HP, JetBlue Airways, and is supported by The James New York Hotel, DJ Vice, Skam Artist Entertainment, Mr. Boddington's Studio and Yak Pak.

For opportunities on how to participate in the VH1 Save The Music Foundation's 2010 Gala or to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.vh1savethemusic.com/gala2010 or call 212.846.7416.

About The VH1 Save the Music Foundation:

The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education programs in America's public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child's complete education.  To date, VH1 Save The Music has provided more than $45 million in new musical instruments to 1,700 public schools in more than 100 cities around the country, impacting the lives of over 1.4 million children.  With the support of people across the country and the 2010-2011 Ambassador Class including: OneRepublic, Chrisette Michele, Nick Lachey, Mandy Moore, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Fall Out Boy, Colbie Caillat, it is The Foundation's renewed commitment to donate one hundred million dollars worth of new musical instruments to ensure that even a greater number of students receive a comprehensive music education in the coming decade. Get involved and learn more at www.vh1savethemusic.com.

About Julie Andrews:

Julie Andrews has been a beloved and much-honored star of stage, screen and television for more than half a century.  She was already a Broadway legend when she made her feature film debut in 1964's "Mary Poppins." Andrews' iconic performance in the title role of the magical nanny brought her an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award. The following year she received another Academy Award nomination for her role as Maria von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Today's young film audiences may be more familiar with Andrews as a queen trying to train her teenaged granddaughter to be a princess in the hit films, "The Princess Diaries," and its sequel, "The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement."  Andrews also voiced the character of Queen Lillian in the blockbuster hits "Shrek 2," and "Shrek the Third." In addition to her stage and screen work, Julie has dedicated her life to her family and to serving important causes, including Operation USA, an international relief organization and served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Ms. Andrews received her honors as a Dame of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on New Year's Eve 1999.  She was also a 2001 Kennedy Center Honoree.  For more about Ms. Andrews and her collection, please go to www.julieandrewscollection.com.

About The Sound of Music:

Considered by many to be the most successful movie musical in history, "The Sound of Music" took home five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in 1965.  Its first release lasted over 4 1/2 years.  It is shown annually on network television; has been released for home entertainment on VHS, Laser Disc, DVD and has recently been digitally remastered and restored for its high definition Blu-ray Disc debut November 2; unites new fans and old through the amazing SINGALONG SOUND OF MUSIC events nationwide; and the soundtrack CD (also getting a special 45th Anniversary edition release from Sony/Legacy on November 2) is one of the best selling soundtracks of all time, having gone Platinum more than 12 times.   Its landmark score includes some of the most beloved songs in the American songbook including "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Do Re Mi," "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," and the title song.

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC:

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

About Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company:

Founded by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and headquartered in New York City, Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company owns the rights to the world's most popular stage and film musicals, including OKLAHOMA!, CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I and THE SOUND OF MUSIC.  As an agency, R&H encompasses a music publishing company; a concert rental library; and a theatrical licensing branch that collectively represent more than 12,000 songs, 900 concert pieces, 200 writers, and 100 musicals, including works by Irving Berlin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Schwartz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Guettel, Rodgers & Hart, Kern & Hammerstein, and many more.  For more: www.rnh.com.

SOURCE VH1 Save the Music Foundation

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED