Ben Folds returns to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra stage for the first time in six years, with two January shows at Hamer Hall.
Ben Folds is heading back to Hamer Hall this January, reuniting with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for two shows.
It’s the first time Ben Folds has shared a bill with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in six years. He’ll work through highlights from across his catalogue with the orchestra behind him, led by MSO Principal Guest Conductor Benjamin Northey.
Folds has always kept a foot in both worlds, writing piano-driven pop and composing for the concert hall in equal measure. That makes the symphonic setting less a novelty than a homecoming, his songs reworked for a stage of strings and brass.
Ben Folds x MSO
- 29 January, 7.30pm – Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
- 30 January, 7.30pm – Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
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For anyone who came in late, Folds made his name fronting Ben Folds Five in the 90s before a long solo career, and he’s spent much of the past decade writing for orchestras rather than against them. His album So There paired short pop songs with a full piano concerto, the sort of thing that lands him on rock bills and classical programs alike.
Ben Folds Five gave him the piano-and-attitude template that still runs through the solo records, and the orchestral shows tend to pull from all of it. Deep cuts and singles get the same treatment, which is part of why the format has become a fixture of his touring.
Getting a seat runs on a ladder. On 27 August the presales open in order, with MSO subscribers first at 10am, Friends of the MSO at 11am and the waitlist at noon. General release lands the day after at 10am.
Both nights sit at Hamer Hall, a venue built for this kind of crossover. Expect a set weighted towards the songs people already know by heart, given room to breathe with players around him, and the odd surprise thrown in for the crowd.
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