The Bell Telephone Hour (also known as The Telephone Hour) is a concert series that began April 29, 1940, on NBC Radio, and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone as the name implies, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television from 1959 to 1968. Throughout the program's run on both radio and television, the studio orchestra on the program was conducted by Donald Voorhees. Synopsis After early shows featuring James Melton and Francia White as soloists, producer Wallace Magill restructured the format on April 27, 1942, into the "Great Artists Series" of concert and opera performers, beginning with Jascha Heifetz. The list of talents heard over the years includes Marian Anderson, Bing Crosby, Margaret Daum, Nelson Eddy, Benny Goodman, Josef Hofmann, José Iturbi, Fritz Kreisler, Gregor Piatigorsky, Oscar Levant, Ezio Pinza, Lily Pons, Gladys Swarthout, and Helen Traubel. The series returned to radio in 1968-69 as Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour featuring highlights and interviews from the original series. The Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra included clarinetist and saxophonist Joe Allard, who is well known as a saxophone teacher at the Juilliard School and the New England Conservatory of Music. His list of students includes Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy, Dave Liebman, Ricky Ford, Bob Hanlon, Dave Tofani, Mike Brecker, Roger Rosenberg, John Coltrane, and Steve Grossman. Warner Anderson was the program's announcer, and Floyd Mack the narrator. Television The TV show, seen on NBC from January 12, 1959, to April 28, 1968, was one of the first TV series to be telecast exclusively in color, using the color TV system perfected by RCA in 1954. It aired every week on Friday evenings at 10:00 pm, then was switched to Tuesday evenings at 10:00 pm in 1963. It was noted for its Christmas specials, frequently featuring opera stars and stars of musical theater and ballet. In the fall of 1965, the show was switched to an earlier time, Sundays at 6:30 pm. In 1960, the program alternated weeks with Sing Along with Mitch. Beginning in 1965, the program sometimes had to share its time slot with an NBC news series called Actuality Specials on NBC, and was telecast every other week. In the fall of 1963, the program alternated with The Andy Williams Show. During its last season, 1967–1968, the program