Ben Folds goes classical for spring tour featuring orchestras such as CSO

American singer-songwriter Ben Folds loves to collaborate, even with artists outside his usual piano-rock wheelhouse. His musical partners have run the gamut from Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls to William Shatner to Weird Al Yankovic. 

Known for fusing alternative rock and power pop, Folds crafts melodies that are catchy yet deeply reflective. For his tour this spring, Folds explores his classical side, collaborating with symphony orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (April 15), the Pacific Symphony (Costa Mesa, Calif., April 25-26), Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (May 3), Omaha (Nebraska) Symphony (May 9-10) and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (June 16).

Between these dates, Folds also will present a revival of his Paper Airplane Request Tour, in which fans write song requests on paper airplanes and then glide them onto the stage, adding an interactive element to the experience. In the fall, Folds will undertake more symphony concerts, with performances with the Louisville Orchestra (Sept. 5), Colorado Symphony (Denver, Sept. 12-13), the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Sept. 26-27) and the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Symphony Orchestra (Oct. 4).

Adept at many genres, Folds has already established his classical-music bona-fides. In 2013, he was commissioned by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra to write a piano concerto, which he premiered with the NSO in 2014. In Nov. 22-24, 2013, he participated in the American Voices Festival, hosted and curated by soprano Renée Fleming at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., featuring jazz, country, Broadway, gospel, popular and classical music. During the festival, Folds premiered his song "I’m Not the Man" with the National Symphony Orchestra.

He obviously made a hit impression, because in 2017, he was asked to serve as the first artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, one of the constituent groups of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Folds held the role from 2019 until January 2025, when he resigned, citing changes at the Kennedy Center, made by the incoming Trump administration.

In Chicago, Folds will join the CSO, under conductor Steven Reineke, in orchestral arrangements of his best-known tunes. The program will be announced from the stage.