Ben Folds, Rob Thomas & Friends Declassify NSO In Thrillingly Special Show

Image Courtesy of Dean Robbins

By Dean Robbins

Ben Folds, current artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), began the show with an introduction where he explained the Declassified series as a “gateway drug to more symphony shows.” The series, which has been running at the Kennedy Center for the past several years, aims to make the NSO as fun as possible through barnburner shows that juxtapose orchestral pieces with modern artists and arrangements. For the September 6th installment of Declassified, Folds put four orchestral pieces conducted by Steven Reineke alongside three NSO-backed mini-sets from folk guitarist Yasmin Williams, folk rock singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham, and Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas. 

The show opened with soaring horns pulled down by timpani-forward percussion in Valorie Coleman’s “Fanfare for Uncommon Times.” The piece, named in reference to Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” was written in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic. Coleman’s piece and all three other orchestral works are written by living composers in the contemporary era. 

After the horn and percussion sections’ turn, they stood quiet for the string section to shine in a beautiful treatment of Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum.” That piece was originally recorded with the Catalyst Quartet, and it comes to greater life performed by a full orchestral string section. As expected from the title, the piece is centered on strumming and opens with it accompanied by a single cellist before expanding and contracting between isolating parts of the string section and big, emotional choruses. “Strum” makes good use of counterpoints in several sections as well as spotlights on individual string players before ending on one big violin section-wide strum. 

Montgomery’s piece pairs especially well with the first headliner of the night: Yasmin Willliams, a guitarist from Northern Virginia. Williams is set to release her third studio album Arcadia on October 4.  Ben Folds introduced her as having learned to play through the video game Guitar Hero 2. That game must have magical powers, because Williams gave one of the most visibly virtuosic performances I have ever seen. Her playing style mixes fingerpicking and using the body of the guitar as a percussive instrument. Her hands moved at lightning speed between the strings and hitting the guitar across the two-song set consisting of her biggest hits “Juvenescence” and “Restless Heart.” For their part, NSO enveloped the guitar while keeping it front and center. The combination was divine. The set concluded in an epic solo and an immediate standing ovation from the stunned crowd. 

Yasmin Williams exited stage right, and the NSO moved into a stirring rendition of the fourth and final movement of Carlos Simon’s “Tales – A Folklore Symphony.” Each movement of “Tales” is based on African-American folklore and Afrofuturism. The NSO, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, recorded the whole piece with former NSO Composer-in-Residence Simon for a release earlier this year. The movement, entitled “John Henry,” is an evocative aural retelling of the steel-driving legend. The opening of the work sounds like a workyard– chaotic and a little scary. The piece then moves into a quieter motif signaled by the sound of a bell in the distance before reaching a rumbling climax. After it ended, Simon surprised the audience with a silent cameo appearance on stage. 

Madison Cunningham was up next and did not fail to follow Yasmin Williams’ example. This was my third time seeing Madison Cunningham in the past year in as many different configurations: first as opener for Hozier with a full band and second as co-headliner with Juana Molina in a stripped-down set at The Barns at Wolf Trap. For this show, Cunningham gave three of her songs subtly jazzier arrangements: “Death by Suspicion,” “Life According to Raechel,” and “Broken Harvest.” The second song never fails to make my eyes water with heartfelt lyrics about the singer’s late grandmother: “There’s always something left unsaid.” The orchestral backing was reminiscent of those for torch singers like Adele. It could be best described as sweeping and melodramatic.

The fourth and final NSO piece was Max Richter’s “On The Nature of Daylight,” which may be the most popular contemporary classical song. It has been popularized through inclusion in various films including Shutter Island (2010) and Arrival (2016). Despite the somber piece’s reputation, this is the first time it has been performed by the NSO. Richter will perform with the NSO this coming May. 

Rob Thomas concluded the show with a five-song set that made the audience hoot, giggle, and yell unpublishable things. He opened with “Little Wonders” from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack before continuing with the hit “Her Diamonds” from his second solo album Cradlesong and Matchbox Twenty song “Unwell.” 

Thomas then took a moment to explain how special this concert was for him and that he was ready to play the deep cut “All That I Am” from his debut solo album for the first time ever live. The set concluded with the Timberlake-esque “Lonely No More” which is one of the last songs to be expected as an orchestral arrangement. This pick had the crowd rolling, including a woman sitting in front of me who started laughing uncontrollably. At the song’s climax, Thomas leapt onto the conductor’s podium and started dancing back-to-back with Reineke. It was a perfect encapsulation of the irreverence that makes the Declassified series so entertaining and approachable. The work of Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty could not be described as “acclaimed,” especially when compared to Williams and Cunningham, but his on-stage charisma was undeniable. 

In addition to the main concert, guests were encouraged to arrive early for a pre-show jazz concert by the Heidi Martin Quartet and stay for post-show live band karaoke by Harikaraoke. Both were held on the Millennium Stage. Guests over the age of 21 could try a sample of the Monumental IPA from Port City. A free photo booth was also available for additional memory making. 

Declassified: Ben Folds Presents: Rob Thomas, Madison Cunningham & Yasmin Williams was truly one of the most special concerts I have attended. It certainly made me want to see the orchestra more often. As always, the Kennedy Center offers student tickets through their MyTix program. Admission to this show was $25, a great deal for an orchestra section seat that usually costs closer to $100.