New album honors the National Symphony Orchestra, snubs Trump’s Kennedy Center changes

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A new record celebrates the National Symphony Orchestra, and it pushes back against President Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, where the orchestra is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The album is by pop pianist Ben Folds, who stepped down from his post as artistic adviser to the symphony in February after the president became board chair of the Kennedy Center. Music reporter Justin Barney with Nashville Public Radio spoke to Ben Folds about why he made the record.

JUSTIN BARNEY, BYLINE: Shortly after reelection, President Trump replaced 18 members of the 36-person bipartisan board of the Kennedy Center with people loyal to him. Immediately after, they elected him chairman of the board.

BEN FOLDS: I was gutted, sad.

BARNEY: That is Ben Folds, a singer and pianist known for embracing orchestral treatments of his songs, like this one called “Landed.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LANDED”)

FOLDS: (Singing) So come pick me up. I’ve landed.

BARNEY: Folds had been artistic adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra, housed at the Kennedy Center. He got the job during the first Trump administration and over the past eight years, worked to program shows that he said were more dynamic and interesting. When Trump became chairman, he said it was disruptive.

FOLDS: The circus has followed this administration under the Kennedy Center. There’s booing if he shows up.

BARNEY: Trump, as chairman, appointed one of his supporters – former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell – as interim executive director. Folds says his presence politicized the center further.

FOLDS: There’s all kinds of kvetching from the new head of the Kennedy Center about partisan politics. Never happened before. No one ever cared or thought about that as a bipartisan place.

BARNEY: The Kennedy Center did not agree to an interview for this story. In an interview with Politico, Grenell defended his appointment, saying that the administration is bringing ideological diversity to the Kennedy Center.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RICHARD GRENELL: I think that now it’s much more tolerant because for the longest time, conservatives didn’t feel welcome.

BARNEY: President Trump said that the programming was, quote, “out of control with DEI and inappropriate shows,” end quote. Folds’ perspective is that the institution lost its artistic integrity with the new administration.

FOLDS: Trust is the reason I had to leave because that trust has broken down.

BARNEY: On July 4, Ben Folds pushed back.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEN FOLDS & NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, KENNEDY CENTER’S “BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE (LIVE)”)

BARNEY: Unbeknownst to the Kennedy Center, he released a surprise live album, recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra just before the November election.

FOLDS: It was all in the air. That recording, for me, captures the feeling of being on the edge of a cliff and the uncertainty in that time in Washington, D.C.

BARNEY: The album is his way of showing support for the National Symphony – a group he says he is very proud of and expresses it in the recording.

(APPLAUSE)

FOLDS: Thank you very much. That’s our nation’s Symphony Orchestra.

BARNEY: The album makes no secret on Folds’ feelings on Trump. That’s why it features this song, “But Wait, There’s More.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE (LIVE)”)

FOLDS: (Singing) But wait, there’s more, more, more, more. Do you…

The whole point of the song is that whatever happened that was crazy was going to be bigger tomorrow.

BARNEY: Folds says public records show that membership for its theater has dropped.

FOLDS: When 80% of your subscriptions bail on you, 80% of the people have said that we don’t trust you.

BARNEY: The Kennedy Center lost $1.6 million in subscriber revenue since Trump became chairman. The symphony lost 1 in 4 of its subscribers. Folds wants to support them with this album. The administration took its own action on July 4 to help shore up the Kennedy Center’s finances. On the same day that Folds released his defying album benefiting the symphony, President Trump signed the massive tax and spending bill. It includes $250 million for the Kennedy Center – five times more than its past federal funding of around $50 million. Folds believes that the National Symphony Orchestra will outlast its ideological fights over programming.

FOLDS: The message I want to send is art survives, and we can do better. National Symphony Orchestra’s our nation’s orchestra. Please support them.

BARNEY: And he says his Fourth of July record, “Ben Folds Live With The National Symphony Orchestra,” captures the institution in what he calls a beautiful, golden moment.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FOLDS: The National Symphony Orchestra.

(APPLAUSE)

BARNEY: For NPR News, I’m Justin Barney.