Legendary actress and Tony Award winner Carol Channing will bring her vocal talents to Quinnipiac next week, as part of the 2004-2005 Sonny Costanzo Concert Series. The free concert will be held Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Recreation Center, and is open to all members of the QU community and the general public.

Best known for her portrayal as Dolly Levi in “Hello Dolly,” Channing has recorded 10 albums that have been certified gold. Winning a Tony Award in 1964 for her “Hello Dolly” role, Channing is the voice behind such hits as “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and “A Little Girl From Little Rock.”

The actress has also lent her vocal talents to animated features films like 1994’s “Thumbelina,” and the television version of “Alice in Wonderland,” which first aired in 1985. Channing, 83, has appeared as herself on the television programs “The Drew Carey Show,” “What’s My Line?” and a multi-episode stint on “The Love Boat.” She was awarded a Golden Globe Award for her work in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” which has since become a Broadway play still showing in New York.

The Sonny Costanzo Concert Series began in 1968 when QU professor Sam Costanzo and his late brother, trombonist Sonny Costanzo, hosted a competition for high school and college bands in the Northeast. Each competition featured an honored musician and a guest panel of musicians. The festival competitions ceased in 1980, but picked up again a few years later in 1988, when Sonny Costanzo was chosen as Quinnipiac’s first artist in residence, a position now held by Fidelio. The series resumed, and has been a university mainstay, even after Costanzo’s death in 1993.

For more information on the Carol Channing performance on Weds., call (203) 582-8937. Tickets are free, but required.