Ben Folds with the Minnesota Orchestra

Ben Folds plays Orchestra Hall on Saturday, October 24, backed by the Minnesota Orchestra and conducted by Sarah Hicks. It's a pairing that fits Folds' career: he's spent more than two decades playing with some of the world's great symphony orchestras, and this is one of those nights. The performance runs about two hours, including intermission.

If you're not familiar with the name, Folds is an Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter with a body of work that doesn't stay in one lane. He fronted the pop band Ben Folds Five, put out several solo rock albums, recorded a holiday album, and worked with a strange mix of collaborators—Sara Bareilles, Regina Spektor, Weird Al, and William Shatner. He also leads the Paper Airplane Request Tour. He's toured as a pop artist and as a symphonic one, and this show sits in that second camp.

Conducting is Sarah Hicks, the Minnesota Orchestra's principal conductor of Live at Orchestra Hall. She oversees concerts across popular music, jazz, Broadway classics, and movie scores, and has led the Inside the Classics and Sam & Sarah series for ten seasons. The Minnesota Orchestra itself is now in its second century and is a Grammy Award winner, ranked among America's top symphonic ensembles. Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård began his third season as music director in September 2025.

So the evening is Folds at the piano with the orchestra behind him, Hicks on the podium, and a set that runs about two hours with an intermission in the middle. It's at Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, on Saturday, October 24.