Ben Folds Releases New Live Album with National Symphony Orchestra on Fourth of July

This Fourth of July, musician Ben Folds has released a brand-new album recorded live at the sold-out Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The show took place before Trump seized the Center and Folds resigned from his leadership position there in protest. 

The album, Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra, features both Ben Folds classics and new music in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Reineke. Regina Spektor and Tall Heights appear as guests, and a choir of sorts is made up of Doug Peck, Nicholas Kassoy, and Marc Silvey.
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In addition to streaming from multiple DSPs, physical copies of Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra are available, including signed CDs and a range of vinyl presses. On July 10 at 8:30 p.m. ET, Folds will also join TalkShopLive to discuss the new album. Folds will also be touring solo and accompanied by orchestras across the U.S., with more information available here. 

The album was recorded on Oct. 25 and 26, 2024, ahead of Folds’ resignation from his post as the first-ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). According to a release, Folds left as Trump’s takeover signaled “a betrayal of mission, a hostile remodeling of one of America’s most vital cultural institutions and artistic sanctuaries.” Many artists, including Lin Manuel Miranda, the cast of Les Miserables, and Issa Rae have protested the Kennedy Center since Trump’s reorganization of it.