The Bell Telephone Hour, aka The Telephone Hour, was a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, 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.
Rehearsal: The Bell Telephone Hour was a musical short, filmed in 1947, with Voorhees, Ezio Pinza and Blanche Thebom.
The series returned to radio in 1968-69 as Bell Telephone Hour Encores, aka Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour, featuring highlights and interviews from the original series.