John C. Tibbetts

John C. Tibbetts (born Paola, Kansas, October 6, 1946 and grew up in Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American film critic, historian, author, painter, and pianist.

Career

Tibbetts received a Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Kansas in Multi-Disciplinary Studies - Art History, Theater, Photography, and Film. He was the first person to complete what was then regarded as an experimental curriculum in multi-disciplinary studies. He then was tenured as an associate professor. Under the general rubric of “visual literacy,” his coursework included film history, media studies, and theory and aesthetics.

Before entering the academy, John worked from 1980 to 1996 as a full-time broadcaster. He was an Arts and Entertainment Editor and Producer for a variety of radio and television outlets, including KCTV (Kansas City’s CBS affiliate), KMBC Radio, and KXTR-FM radio. During that time he also contributed many broadcast stories about musicians, painters, playwrights, and filmmakers to CBS Television, the Monitor Radio Network, Voice of America, and National Public Radio. More recently, he has produced two radio series about music, including the 15-part The World of Robert Schumann and the 17-part Piano Portraits, that have been broadcast worldwide and are now a part of the permanent collection of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives in Lincoln Center, New York. Both derive from his knowledge of music and feature numerous interviews with musicians and scholars in the musical field.