mist ra allsop is considered one of the world's leading conductors. [ ♪ music ] >> reporter: there'spower in that little baton. she uses the tool to help the audiences imagination take flight, she is, surprisingly, down to earth. >> classical music became quite extreme in terms of you are not supposed to clap, you are not supposed to cough. there are so many things that you are not supposed to do that i found that very off-putting. whereabouts my parents, and our home life of classical music is fun. we had a couple of dogs that would scream, shouting. >> reporter: the child of professional musicians, allsop decided to become a conductor at the ripe old age of nine. were there many role models to look up to being a woman. >> that didn't occur to me, i have to say. >> her mentor is leonard bernstein, famous for making classical music accessible. >> my dad took me to the new york philharmonican. a guy came out. he was so charismatic. he was having so much fun. his influence and encouragement set her on a life's path. >> it ignored the rules. that appealed to . >> when allsop came to bal