WFMT: Critical Thinking and Critic's Choice

In a program that first aired January 17, 2011, Andrew Patner presents violin music of the great American composer Ralph Shapey [...]

  In a program that first aired March 3, 2013, Andrew Patner presents a New Amsterdam Records CD release of Jace Clayton's (a.k.a. DJ Rupture) explorations of works by the late, gay African-American composer Julius Eastman. &nbsp [...]

In a program that first aired July 23, 2007, Andrew Patner presents a program of music by the pioneering and independent 20th century Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, 1905- [...]

In a program that first aired February 25, 2013, Andrew Patner talks with conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, who was in town to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  The Salonen-curated French Reveries & Passions Festival features the CSO and runs through May 24. &nbsp [...]

This past March 18th family, friends, and colleagues gathered in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center to celebrate the life of critic, author, and radio presenter, Andrew Patner. Listen to a podcast* of the Celebration which includes remarks, sound collages, performances, and more. PROGRAM Rabbi Andy Bachman Andrew in China (Part I) Josh Patner Kenny Blum Live more [...]

In a program that first aired April 30, 2007, Andrew Patner's guest is Robert Falls, marking his then-20th anniversary as artistic director of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, in the second of a lively two-part conversation [...]

In a program that first aired April 30, 2007, Andrew Patner's guest is Robert Falls, marking his then-20th anniversary as artistic director of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, in the first of a lively two-part conversation [...]

In a program first aired November 15, 2010, Andrew's guest is New Yorker music critic, award-winning and best-selling author of The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, MacArthur Fellow, and music weblog pioneer with therestisnoise.com, Mr. Alex Ross, discussing his then-new book of essays and profiles, Listen To This. From bass lines to Björk, Marian more [...]

Ameena Matthews in a scene from The Interrupters (Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz, 2011) First aired August 8, 2011, Andrew Patner talks with Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Kartemquin Films), Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here), and Cobe Williams (the CeaseFire project) about their acclaimed documentary, The Interrupters. Made in Chicago, the film looks at the efforts of more [...]

The second of Andrew Patner’s two-part conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who was in town for an encore production of his “Fiorello!” at the TimeLine Theatre Company on Chicago’s north side.  The program first aired on April 7, [...]

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Riccardo Muti enjoyed a close friendship with WFMT’s late Critic-at-Large Andrew Patner. WFMT Program Director David Polk recorded a conversation with Maestro Muti about Andrew in anticipation of a public celebration of his life which takes place this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 7:00 pm in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center [...]

In a segment first heard December 8, 2010, Andrew Patner reads selections from James Thurber's Fables for our Time [...]

The first of Andrew Patner’s two-part conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who was in town for an encore production of his “Fiorello!” at the TimeLine Theatre Company on Chicago’s north side.  The program first aired on March 31st, [...]

This Critic's Choice segment was first aired December 4, 2013, and makes reference to the following post on Andrew's View From Here weblog from December 1, 2013: My first 2013-2014 Lyric Opera of Chicago Sun-Times review received an interesting reply from Sun-Times news and feature columnist Neil Steinberg on his weblog Every goddamn day.  Neil is an more [...]

First aired on 10/29/2012, Andrew Patner presents recordings of Chicago-born singer/songwriter Terry Callier, who died in 2012 at the age of 67. (Includes a forward from WFMT program director David Polk) [...]

The radio premiere of an Andrew Patner interview with Lyric Opera of Chicago General Director Anthony Freud on the topic of Mieczysław Weinberg’s opera The Passenger, which makes its Lyric Opera debut tomorrow night, February 24th, a live broadcast you’ll hear on WFMT and wfmt.com at 7:15pm (CST).  The Passenger runs through March 15th at the Civic more [...]

In a segment first heard on January 19, 2011, Andrew reads a letter Groucho Marx wrote to Warner Brothers [...]

A forward from WFMT's Matt DeStefano: Two  weeks ago, on Critical Thinking with Andrew Patner, we heard the latest in his series of consistently  inquisitive, intellectually stimulating, enlightening conversations with Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti.  The next morning, we woke up to the shocking and sad news that our Andrew, our colleague, WFMT’s [...]

We remember our dear friend and colleague Andrew Patner with his reading from James Thurber's Fables for Our Time, first heard on November 30, [...]

Andrew shares some upbeat American jazz records from the dark days of the Second World War in early [...]