IF Vienna can have a New Year's Day concert, why not Kidderminster?

That was the view of Colin Hill, and the Lions Clubs of Worcestershire - so on New Year's Day, Wyre Forest people can be transported to old Vienna via a concert in Kidderminster Town Hall. The event will mainly feature the music of Johann Strauss and his family.

Those attending the concert are promised an evening of music with the knowledge they are supporting a good cause.

All proceeds will go to the County Air Ambulance.

The Midland Concert Orchestra, under their musical director John Franklin, will perform a varied first half of the programme, with a Gilbert and Sullivan Overture, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Chanson de Nuit by Elgar.

The second half of the evening will be devoted to Strauss music - Johann the elder's Radetzky March, Johann II's Overture to Die Fledermaus, Tritsch Tratsch and Thunder and Lightning polkas, and the Pizzicato Polka - a joint effort with his brother Josef.

And, of course, there will be waltzes - Emperor, Roses From the South, Tales from the Vienna Woods - and the concert would not be complete without The Blue Danube.

John Franklin, who is principal flute with Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and sings tenor with the City of Birmingham Choir, has conducted Viennese programmes over the last three years, also directing a number of amateur operatic societies.

Leader David Joyce was a pupil of Itzhak Rashkovsky at the Royal College of Music, and has played in orchestras accompanying artistes such as Carreras, Pavarotti, and Kennedy, working under the batons of Sir Simon Rattle and Barry Wordsworth.

The orchestra provided the music for the Royal Variety Show at the Grand Theatre, in the presence of Princess Margaret, and has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, as well as Birmingham theatres.

The concert on New Year's Day will start at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available from the council shop in Kidderminster Library and Russells, Coventry Street, Kidderminster; Bewdley Tourist Information Centre and Stourport Photo Centre.

You can watch the Vienna New Year's Day concert on television in the morning, and enjoy a live Viennese concert in Kidderminster in the evening. What better way to start the New Year?