Ben Folds Composes a Song LIVE for Orchestra In Only 10 Minutes

Summary

Ben Folds composes and performs a new song with the orchestra in a live, unrehearsed session, shaping it in response to audience suggestions.

• Starting prompt: The audience chooses A minor, an upbeat feel, and the lyric “These new spaces are all designed to be flexible,” taken from a program booklet.
• Building the arrangement: Folds develops a chord cycle and demonstrates parts at the piano, then gives the musicians instructions through voice, singing, and rhythmic syllables. He adds patterns for the cellos, clarinets, violins, violas, and double basses, adjusting notes and timing as he listens.
• Orchestration and structure: He layers the sections into a full ensemble, invites a possible drum part and trumpet solo, and shapes the performance with repetition, rising volume, and a dramatic, quiet ending.
• Performance: The finished improvisation combines the audience’s phrase with lyrics drawn from text about the Kennedy Center. Folds briefly jokes by playing notes from Beethoven’s Ninth before continuing in A minor.

Featured Creators and Contributors

Ben Folds; the National Symphony Orchestra; conductor Edwin Outwater; Dr. Charles Limb, who introduced the event; and Renée Fleming, identified in the video context as Artistic Advisor at Large.