Photo credit: Sharon Alagna
Artist Ben Folds gave the music world a Fourth of July surprise with an unexpected release of a new album featuring the Kennedy Center’s National Symphony Orchestra. Titled Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra, the album is, as the name suggests, recordings of live performances of Folds’ songs and new tracks alike by the NSO. The album also features conductor Steven Reineke and other special guests and artists. The album is available for release across a variety of platforms.
Folds’ choice to release the album on Independence Day is no mere coincidence, however. For those unfamiliar with the Kennedy Center, it is located in Washington, D.C. and while not fully owned by the United States Government, some of its private funding has come from there and its staff is often appointed by the government as well. Folds himself was the center’s first Artistic Advisor appointed in 2017, a position which he held for eight years. However, following the election of current president Donald Trump, the Kennedy Center was one of the many places which he set his sights on. The president made claims recent performances at the center were “anti-American propaganda,” calling them “terrible” and “a disgrace that they were even put on.” Of course, when asked if he had ever seen a show there, he stated he had not but had claimed that he heard they were “so bad” that he didn’t want to go. Some weeks into his presidency, Trump had fired the long-standing Chairman David M. Rubenstein and much of the center’s staff, including removing all previous appointees from former president Joe Biden, replacing them with his own hand-picked staff. Then, this new staff full of Trump-appointed, Trump-loyal board members “elected” Trump to take the position of Chairman. These events stirred much controversy among the creative fields, with many criticizing Trump for an unprecedented and hostile move, taking what was once a bipartisan place to share a wide variety of American arts and culture and instead forcing it to fit only the narrow views and approval of a president known to be extremely divisive.
While Folds himself was not one of those initially fired, he resigned from his position on February 12th, the same day as the mass removals and changes occurred, protesting the president’s actions. The tracks on Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra were recorded back in October of 2024, now standing as a memorial to the center before the controversial change in control. “This album suddenly now feels much bigger,” Folds said. “I knew we were making something special with the NSO. I didn’t know it’d be a time capsule of the last moment before it all got torn down. I still believe there’s more good than not. But you must work for it. You have to say something. Especially now.”
Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra Tracklist
But Wait, There’s More
Fragile
Kristine From the 7th Grade
Effington
The Luckiest
Capable Of Anything
Still Fighting It
You Don’t Know Me (Feat. Regina Spektor)
Landed
Bonus Tracks
Still
Cologne *
Moments (Feat. Tall Heights) *
Gracie *
Not The Same *
* Digital Edition Bonus Tracks
Leave a Comment