Jim Cotter

Join us on Sunday, December 23rd, 3 to 5 pm, to hear The Crossing Choir's  "@ Christmas" concert, recorded at St. Paul’s Church in Chestnut Hill on Friday, December 21st, 2012. 

After years of controversy about its move from Merion, and just months after the Barnes Foundation has settled into its new home in Philadelphia, a new book by former Harvard University President and current Barnes board member, Neil Rudenstein has been published,  titled: The House of Barnes:  The Man, the Collection and the Controversy.

The book grew out of research Rudenstein did to inform his decision about whether he was prepared to join the newly expanded Barnes board prior to the move.  

The Philadelphia Museum of Art boasts the world’s largest collection of works by French Artist Marcel Duchamp, known best for his avante-garde works that incorporate common materials.  The Museum is now exploring  his American legacy – in not only visual art,  but dance and music.  In addition to showcasing over 40 works by Duchamp, the interdisciplinary exhibition juxtaposes more than 60 works by fine artists Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, music by John Cage, and performances of choreography by Merce Cunningham. 

The work that drew these four younger artists to Philadelphia to better understand Duchamp was his, then, best-known masterpiece – The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even - also called, The Large Glass, finished in the 1920s.  It is, in fact, two large frames of glass that contain pictures created with materials such as lead foil, wire, and dust. 

Jim Cotter speaks with exhibition curator Carlos Basualdo, (the Museum’s curator of contemporary art), about Duchamp’s impact on these artists, and his relationship with Philadelphia.

Dancing around the Bride: Cage, Cunningham, Johns, Rauschenberg, and Duchamp is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through January 21, 2013.

Information here. 

Jim Cotter speaks with Bernard Havard, the Walnut Street Theatre’s president and producing artistic director. Havard is celebrating three decades at the helm of America’s oldest theater.

The Philadelphia-based, world-renowned composer Jennifer Higdon speaks with Jim Cotter  She's currently writing her first opera based on the novel Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier.  It was also the basis for a 2003 movie.

Jim Cotter speaks with Philadelphia lawyer-turned-novelist James Kimmel, Jr. His very compelling first novel is published this week.

This week's Philadelphia Orchestra performances of Poulenc's Double Piano Concerto feature the young soloists Christina and Michelle Naughton. Jim Cotter speaks with the twin sisters.

Information about the performances.

Through the 1980s and '90s, Chris Botti had a relatively successful career as an in-demand session musician and sideman, and as a composer and producer. Then, in 2001, after he signed to Columbia Records, the stars aligned; since that time he's gone from strength to strength garnering worldwide acclaim as a live performer and selling millions of records.

WRTI's Jim Cotter caught up with the superstar trumpeter when Botti was in town to play with The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Jim Cotter speaks with Pennsylvania Ballet Principal dancer Arantxa Ochoa.  After 16 years with the company, 11 of those in leading roles, Ochoa will retire from the stage after dancing the title role in Giselle, the ballet’s season-opening production.

We look ahead to The Philadelphia Orchestra’s season with Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin.