On Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 8 PM, award-winning singer-songwriter Ben Folds makes his debut with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) for a one-night-only Spotlight Event at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Peristyle Theater to perform a variety of hit songs like The Luckiest, Capable of Anything, and Landed.
Ben Folds has been regarded as one of the major music influences of our generation. He was named the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, is a multi-platinum selling artist, and was a judge for five seasons on NBC’s critically acclaimed a capella show The Sing Off. Folds has recorded numerous solo and collaboration records, including music for film and TV and a classical piano concerto that topped the Billboard charts.
Aside from his musical career, Ben Folds has established himself as an author and published his first book A Dream About Lightning Bugs which debuted as a New York Times Best seller in 2019. In this book, he looks back at his life in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller. Ben opens up about finding his voice as a musician, becoming a rock antihero, and hauling a baby grand piano on and off the stage for every performance.
Conductor Steven Reineke, Music Director of the New York Pops will lead the TSO in Saturday evening’s program. Reineke is also the Principal Pops conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra as well as Principal Pops conductor of the Houston and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. He’s created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip hop, R & B, Broadway, television, and rock including Maxwell, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Cynthia Erivo, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton, Ben Folds, and more.
VIP packages that include premium seating, Meet & Greet opportunities, invitation to the Ask Me Anything…About Music Master Class, and more are available for purchase. Complete details are available at toledosymphony.com.
Ben Folds will conclude the Toledo Symphony’s 2019-2020 Spotlight Events on Saturday, February 22, 2020. Tickets are limited and can be purchased at toledosymphony.com, calling 419.246.8000, or by stopping by the box office located at 1838 Parkwood Avenue.
For more information, please contact Felecia Kanney, Director of Marketing for the Toledo Symphony at fkanney@artstoledo.com.
ABOUT TOLEDO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Toledo Symphony Orchestra is a community-supported organization of professional musicians and teachers who deliver quality performance and music education for all.
Formed in 1943 as The Friends of Music and incorporated in 1951 as the Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc., the Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has grown from a core group of twenty-two part-time musicians to a regional orchestra that employs sixty-nine professional musicians who consider the Toledo Symphony their primary employer, as well as numerous extra players annually as repertoire demands.
On January 1, 2019, the Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet officially merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a new non-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional live music and dance performances and education for the region. This partnership promises to create new and invigorating programs, provide cost and revenue synergies in operations, and integrate the arts through shared educational missions.
The Toledo Symphony reaches more than 260,000 individuals annually through performances and education programs. The series concerts (Masterworks, Pops, Chamber, Mozart in the Afternoon, and Family Series) are the critical underpinning of the orchestra’s artistic mission and regularly draw people from 135 postal zip codes. Education programs, student performances, and community concerts are held in schools, neighborhood churches, performing arts centers, and community facilities throughout the region; many are offered at no charge or provided at a reduced fee to help expand participation.
