Overview

• Ben Folds surprise-released “Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra” on July 4, featuring nine tracks recorded last October with special guests Regina Spektor and Tall Heights.
• The album was recorded over two nights at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and is described as “part protest, part celebration” and a “time capsule of the last moment before it all got torn down.”
• Folds and soprano Renée Fleming resigned as artistic advisers minutes after President Trump’s appointees ousted longtime president Deborah Rutter in February.
• The release highlights persistent divisions at the Kennedy Center, where program cuts, artist boycotts and audience backlash have followed the new leadership.
• Folds plans a United States tour through the fall with orchestras including the Colorado Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and Louisville Orchestra.