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.

[citation needed] During its last season, 1967–1968, the program was switched back to its old Friday-night time slot and the format changed from a videotaped and mostly musical presentation to filmed documentaries about classical musicians made on location.

To date, VAI has issued more than two dozen DVD compilations, and a number of complete telecasts, most notably the episode of April 29, 1960, which presented a lavishly staged production of The Mikado starring Groucho Marx.

The stunning array of performers who appeared on The Bell Telephone Hour television program includes: • Singers: Barbara Cook, Franco Corelli, Régine Crespin, Victoria De Los Angeles, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Eileen Farrell, Nicolai Gedda, Dolores Gray, Mahalia Jackson, Carol Lawrence, George London, Thomas Hayward, Gordon MacRae, Ethel Merman, Robert Merrill, Anna Moffo, Birgit Nilsson, Roberta Peters, Leontyne Price, John Raitt, Dinah Shore, Risë Stevens, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Richard Tucker, Leslie Uggams, Jon Vickers, Mildred Miller and Gretchen Wyler • Pianists: Claudio Arrau, Jorge Bolet, Robert Casadesus, Alicia de Larrocha, Van Cliburn, Philippe Entremont, Lorin Hollander, Byron Janis, Grant Johannesen, and José Iturbi • Violinists: Mischa Elman, Zino Francescatti, Yehudi Menuhin, Erica Morini, David Oistrakh, Michael Rabin, Ruggiero Ricci, and Isaac Stern (Also, famed cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and master of the guitar Andrés Segovia) • Dancers: Alicia Alonso, Erik Bruhn, Jacques d'Amboise, Carla Fracci, Rudolf Nureyev, Matt Mattox, Edward Villella, Violette Verdy, and Maria Tallchief The series won two Emmys and was nominated for seven others.

Originating in NBC's Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the film featured, in addition to Voorhees and the orchestra, operatic bass Ezio Pinza and opera mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom singing arias.