>> Tony Bennett, the legendary singer and philanthropist passed away last week at 96.

He leaves behind one of the greatest songbooks in American mystery and a legacy that will live on forever.

It from Classic hits like I left my heart in San Francisco and the way you look tonight, to his collaboration with Lady Gaga.

Bennett combined pop and jazz to bring the sounds of the past into the forefront of popular music.

We look back on Tony Bennett's incredible career which spanned over 70 years.

He sold 50 million records and earned countless accolades.

Then, we reflect on Tony Bennett's lifetime of service.

It led to the founder of the Frank Sinatra school of the arts , bringing education to thousands of students.

This special edition of "MetroFocus" starts right now.

♪ >> This is "MetroFocus," with Rafael Pi Roman, Jack Ford, and Jenna Flanagan.

MetroFocus is made possible by Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III.

Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation.

The Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund.

Bernard and Denise Schwartz.

Barbara Hope Zuckerberg.

And by Jody and John Arnhold.

Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn foundation.

The Ambrose Monell Foundation.

Estate of Roland Karlen.

The JPB Foundation.

♪ out of the tree I picked me a plum ♪ >> Legendary singer, performer and artist Tony Bennett was best known for the records he sold but he was also passionate about another area of the arts.

Has been painting all of his life and has a reputation with a few paintings in the Smithsonian.

Several of his paintings have been commissioned by organizations such as the United Nations and are in the private collections of Lady Gaga, President Bill Clinton and others.

I had the chance to catch up with him and his wife.

Selected paintings in Tony Bennett celebrating 90 years of artistry illustrates such subjects as world travel, fellow musicians, and New York's Central Park.

I began by asking him how it all came about on the streets of New York in Queens.

Tony In the apartment, James, : wonderful artist, he said, come on, let's go to Central Park and paint.

I said, that would be nice.

I could not believe it.

I saw him doing watercolors and I couldn't believe how wonderful he painted.

He inspired me to keep doing that.

>> You started your painting as a young boy.

You also started your singing as a young boy.

What did your family think about all of this?

The painting, the singing, the performing?

Tony: My mom was wonderful.

She did so much to encourage me at the right time and the right place.

She said that while I was interested in show business, I said, mom, it's your birthday.

Let's go somewhere.

She said I want to see Ella Fitzgerald.

We went to see Ella Fitzgerald.

That is when I first started recording.

I never got over it to this day.

And it is something I did a very early age.

>> When I was walking around looking at your paintings, I was struck by the expense of the types of paintings you've done over the years.

I sell watercolors, oils, pastels.

I saw charcoal sketches.

Is there one area that you prefer to work in?

On the: Ash Tony: I like all of it.

Tony: I like all of it.

>> How do you decide what scene?

You are still lives, marvelous teams of Central Park, cabs in the rain.

Then there are some wonderful scenes in France, Italy.

What is it that strikes your attention and makes you say I want to paint that?

How do you decide?

Tony: Good question.

I just say, this would be a good oil painting or a good watercolor, or this might just be a simple sketch.

It comes about spontaneously.

>> How about the portraits?

Louis Armstrong.

The sketches, Lady Gaga, Stevie wonder.

I would think that portraits are a different thing to do.

How did you decide we want to do portraits of?

Tony: People that I respect.

Then I travel, paint them, photograph them, get an impression of those people that I respect.

>> What you think about it?

I saw you go from painting to painting and look at them and step back.

Almost as if you were observing them for the first time.

What do you think when you walk into a room and the walls are covered with your works?

Tony: I couldn't believe it.

I walked into a room with these paintings I had done over the years.

All of the sudden they were all in one room.

>> I was struck by the fact, as I looked at the paintings, they are all signed by you.

They are signed "Benedetto."

Tony: It's my family name.

>> Why do you use that?

Tony: I use it to communicate in show business.

I started saying my name was Bennett, a simplified version so people would get to know me.

But Benedetto is a wonderful name.

In Italian it translates "the blessed one."

>> I suspect you would look at your life and say that was appropriate to be the last one.

Susan, you use Benedetto.

Susan I do.

: It is a beautiful name.

>> It embraces the family and the support he had been given and tradition of the family.

Susan: Yeah.

That is his real name.

I am proud to have it.

>> And I saw a story that came from Bob Hope.

How did that happen?

Tony: He saw me in the village and he took me on the road with him.

he took me to the West Coast.

I have been in show business ever since.

>> And he said this is the name you will use, Tony Bennett.

Tony: He gave me that name.

>> He just announced you like that one night.

He did not tell you.

>> And you were walking around saying, who is this Tony Bennett?

>> And then you realized, that is me.

Tony: He announced me and it was the first time I had ever heard that name.

>> You talk about Count Basie and how he helped you at a time when things were changing.

You talked about the Beatles were getting popular.

You were looking at where you should go now.

Count Basie gave you some advice.

Tony: He was at bird land and every night it was the most popular thing you could do in New York city.

As close as we were, that is how he liked it.

He liked everybody close to him.

He taught me to work intimately instead of pushing to the back of the house.

He said, this way, this way.

It communicates.

>> I read something where somebody was talking about you, you were singing.

They said you have this magical ability to take a song from decades ago and make it feel as comfortable for your audience as if you are sitting over a cup of coffee and having a conversation.

Is that a good way to explain how you like to perform?

Tony: If you do it with good music, if you do some of that, if you do a song it will always be good, no matter how long it is.

If you do a song that is so good 10 years from now, good 20 years from now.

It is always going to be good.

So you stay with quality.

>> I am going to ask you about a couple of your songs.

"I left my heart in San Francisco" is the favorite.

♪ I left my heart ♪ >> I imagine wherever you perform, it expect you to sing that.

Does it ever, as a performer, do you ever get tired of being asked to sing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco?"

Tony: No.

When I sing it, I try to show people the city.

I decided not to live there.

I would be asked by everybody.

I decided not to live there it was a big moment for me.

>> For so many years you have been painting and you have been singing.

Do you see a connection between your art and your music?

Tony: Oh, Absolutely.

>> What kind?

Tony: It is an art form.

Music and art.

It is great to be swimming in all of that.

It is a wonderful feeling.

>> Do you still get to paint every day?

Tony: Every day.

>> Why is that important?

Tony: You try to keep growing.

You try to improve.

>> Someone might say to you, Tony, you are 90.

You do not need to keep growing if you do not want to.

Why do you want to keep growing with your art and music?

Tony: I know I am 90 but there is that much to learn.

I am just starting out.

There is a lot more you could do.

The whole idea is to get better as much as you can.

>> It has been a fascinating journey.

We are thrilled that in some way we have been able to accompany you on this journey.

Tony: Thank you very much.

>> It has been a pleasure talking with both of you.

>> Thank you, Jack.

♪ I know I can make it for once in my life I have someone who needs me ♪ ♪ Jack: No one else in popular music has recorded for as long and at such a high level of excellence as the legendary singer, artist and performer Tony Bennett.

For more than seven decades, the Grammy winner has sold millions of records around the world, 10 the last years alone.

Million records in He has had 24 songs in the top 40, including I want to be around, the good life, who can I turn to, and his signature song "I left my heart in San Francisco."

♪ I left my heart in San Francisco ♪ Jack: But he began his artistic achievement as a young boy in New York in Queens, where he was , born some 90 years ago.

Now he and his wife Susan, a former dedicated teacher and champion of public schools, are making dreams come true for thousands of New York City public high school students.

They started the exploring the arts organization in 1999 to help transform the lives of young people through arts education.

It began with their dream to create the Frank Sinatra school of the arts in Astoria, Queens.

Right now, their program serves 33 public high schools, 27 in New York, including six in L.A.

I recently caught up with both of them.

I began by asking why he has been so passionate about supporting the arts in the public schools.

Tony: I think the American public should be encouraged to be as creative as possible.

We should all create.

The more we create, individually, the more it will go out into the world, and get respect from the rest of the world for saying good things about being alive.

Jack: Susan, you were a teacher.

Susan: I was.

Jack: I am sure use that his budgets got tighter, one of the first things that went away were the arts.

The arts and sports, two reasons Susan why kids come to school.

:Jack: To keep them in school.

Why was it so important for you and Tony -- and let's focus on the Frank Sinatra school of the arts.

Why was it so important to create that and what were you hoping to get from it?

Susan: I was a teacher from the arts school Tony, when he was in public school, there were good arts programs.

We each saw firsthand the the differences it makes in a child's life.

When you teach the arts, kids want to come just and tend to do better across disciplines.

They are able to discover who they are as a teenager.

As a teen, you are trying to figure out where you fit in.

And they discover their creativity and the creativity of others and celebrate that.

The good thing about public education is it brings people together from all walks of life your fellow artist, your classmate might be from a totally different background, but you come together over the shared experience of creating or simply experiencing art.

You look beyond those differences and you are no longer afraid.

You celebrate and realize that my perspective is as valuable as your perspective.

That, I think, is what brings the world together, that shared experience.

Tony had wonderful experiences as a youngster working was able to realize his dreams.

We see that taken away with budget cuts.

Jack: Tony, you as a teenager went to the high school for industrial arts.

Tony: Right.

Jack: How did that help to shape you and push you in this direction?

Tony: It meant everything.

In junior school and high school, they all said, you will have to do a lot of work.

The new school is said, go into Central.

I couldn't believe it.

They said paint nature.

Jack: Wander into the park and paint nature.

Tony: Just study nature.

Jack: And this was your experience in high school.

Tony: Here I am 90 years old and still studying nature.

Jack: It is not the Tony Bennett school of the arts.

It is the Frank Sinatra school of the arts.

Why did you choose to put Frank on that school?

Tony: That is how much I respected him.

♪ He was the first to make popular music very famous.

I was inspired by him.

He was my inspiration.

He is to this day.

He is a magnificent artist who always depended on quality music.

Jack: I saw at one point were Frank Sinatra sent, you know who the best singer is?

Tony Bennett.

Tony: What did he know?

Jack: I think he knew a lot to pick you.

Susan: One of our most successful programs with exploring the arts is our Tony Bennett apprenticeship program.

In a way, Frank Sinatra was one of your mentors when you started out.

Pretty great.

It was not a true apprenticeship but he helped you a lot.

Jack: So generous to you.

You talk about the nonprofit, exploring the arts.

How does that work?

With a partner school.

Susan: Between New York and Los Angeles.

Both cities value the arts in public education.

It is rather easy.

We do not have to go through bureaucracy.

We reach out to schools.

They send us proposals.

We work in schools for a total of four years.

Then they move on to being a graduate, so to speak, our legacy schools, but the Sinatra school we always support.

They present their goals we work with them on an annual basis to make sure they are achieving high quality, sustainable arts programs.

They have to have at least one certified arts teacher.

If they have that, we will come in with the funding and the guidance and opportunities to help them structure these programs so they can carry on.

Jack: What kind of reaction have the two of you gotten to all that you have done for education in public schools?

What kind of satisfaction has not provided for the two of you?

Susan: It is tremendously satisfying to know you're doing something for young people but I also see it as part of Tony's legacy.

Because He wants to give back the way people helped him when he started out.

That is tremendously gratifying.

In one quick story -- our first graduating class of the Sinatra school among people like Tony and Harry Belafonte, Jerry Seinfeld, we had all sorts of people.

We had the late governor Mario Cuomo.

I will never forget this.

Talk about informational and he ended his speech by saying that the nation that's its soul from the arts, not its military or its economy.

It gets its soul from the arts and therefore brings hope to the world.

He challenged the graduates to go out and give hope to the world.

I thought what could be better than helping these young people to have that opportunity?

It might sound corny, but it touched me and touched those graduates.

That is what we are helping these kids to do, go out and give the world hope.

Nothing could be better than that or more important.

We go to sleep on that every night.

♪ Jack: ETA also runs an afterschool apprenticeship program for 11th and 12th graders from partner schools.

The program places them in paid internships and mentorships with professionals working in the arts.

Tonight, you will meet two of them.

When is a high school teacher for the school of law and justice.

One is currently an apprentice with the Martha Graham dance school.

Maggie is a graduate and is now working in a studio where she previously served her apprenticeship.

We are delighted to have you both.

Thank you I will ask you both for joining us.

I will ask you both the same question.

How did you first on about the program?

What attracted you to?

>> I learned about it through my time at Frank Sinatra high school.

I studied film.

I heard about this program to go to Kaufman Astoria Studios and learn about the business side of film.

In school, you learned about production, being a director, what went into creating a piece, but never really learned about the business, finance, and the contracts.

Jack: And this gave you a chance to do more.

How about you?

>> I transferred my sophomore year into the urban school for law and justice.

I came from Brooklyn has school of the arts.

I was a dance major my freshman year coming into a school all about law.

I had an enrichment team.

They teacher was part of it and she introduced me to this program.

She asked me if I would be interested in joining.

She told me about the program in regards to dancing, acting, art, singing.

I was telling her I signed with I was interested.

I signed with the Martha Graham dance school in connection to ETA, realizing that at Martha Graham, I am able to work as well as participate in class.

Jack: It is important to realize that both of you are taking rigid and robust curriculum courses that everyone else takes in high school and you are doing this additional work in the arts that you were able to choose.

Maggie what pushed you in this , direction?

You get your apprenticeship in the coffin Studios.

What did you discover there?

Maggie: Me.

Jack: That is a great answer.

How so?

Maggie: I walked into the office and I saw this is what I wanted to be.

I found a way to make it happen.

It really pushed me to work harder and be more well-rounded mutt not only in my artform but also in all of my studies.

It became important to me that I just be as successful as possible in everything I do so that one day I could be that Jack: How about you?

Executive office.

You had some interest in dance to start with, but how has the apprenticeship helped that flourish?

>> Before attending Martha Graham dance school, I was already dancing with another dance school.

It was like I was coming into a new technique of dance.

Jack: That is not easy.

New is not necessarily good for teenagers, right?

>> But when I entered, everybody had good hospitality, they were welcoming and willing to help me.

I went into the class.

The teachers introduced themselves, the students were friendly.

I took classes every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday for one hour and 30 minutes.

It was challenging at first.

The technique is very rigorous and advanced.

It helped me advance my technique.

I just got better and better.

At the end of every class, the teachers would check up on me and asked me how I was doing there they told me I was doing good at up with the pace.

Jack: I am sure Tony and Susan would be proud of you.

You are about to graduate from high school, start college.

You will be a criminal justice major but you will continue to dance?

>> Correct.

Jack: Tony and Susan will be proud.

Thank you for joining us.

Good luck to the two of you.

>> Thank you for having us.

>> Thank you.

Jack: For more information on exploring the arts, please log on to our website, Metrofocus.org.

♪ Jack: Thanks for tuning in.

You can take our program anywhere you go with MetroFocus: The podcast.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or simply ask your smart speaker to play MetroFocus the podcast.

You can also go to wliw.org/radio or on the app.

>> MetroFocus is made possible by Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III.

Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation.

The Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund.

Bernard and Denise Schwartz.

Barbara Hope Zuckerberg.

And by Jody and John Arnhold.

Dr. Robert C. and Tina Sohn foundation.

The Ambrose Monell Foundation.

Estate of Roland Karlen.

♪