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BEN FOLDS
A er stints with the band Majosha, as a session
drummer in Nashville, and as a theater troupe
actor in New York between the late ’ s and
early ’ s, Ben Folds found himself back in his
native North Carolina signing a record deal
with bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Dar-
ren Jessee as the Ben Folds Five. Breaking from
the mold of the prevailing angst-ridden rock of
the rock of the time, the trio instead conjured of
the power pop of the likes of Billy Joel and Elton
John with punk-rock energy. e Ben Folds Five
made their eponymous debut in
, catching
ears with the cult hit “Underground.” Among
the rapt listeners was Epic Records, which re-
leased their breakthrough follow-up,
Whatever
and Ever Amen
, in
.
e single “Brick” was
the biggest hit from the internationally plati-
num-selling album, with “Battle of Who Could
Care Less” and “Song for the Dumped” also
proving popular.
e outtakes compilation
Na-
ked Baby Photos
was released the following year,
around the same time Folds produced his rst
side-project disc,
Fear of Pop: Volume
. Anoth-
er Ben Folds Five album came out in
,
e
Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
,
which would be the last disc from the trio until
’s
e Sound of the Life of the Mind
. Folds’s
rst solo e ort in name,
Rockin’ the Suburbs
, was
released in late
. A er his rst live disc was
released the following year, he created a series of
EPs (later compiled as
Supersunnyspeedgraphic:
the LP
) before revisiting the piano trio format
on the introspective top- hit
Songs for Silver-
man
(
). A er a staged prank online “leak”
of Folds’s
album
Way to Normal
, the disc
became his best chart performer to date, hitting
number while also riding the popularity of
“You Don’t Know Me” (featuring Regina Spek-
tor).
e prank inspired his
collaborative
album with Nick Hornby,
Lonely Avenue
. Folds’s
most recent disc,
So
ere
( ), features his
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; he was
named an artistic advisor to the National Sym-
phony Orchestra in
. Ben Folds previously
appeared at Ravinia in
and
.
6:00 PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018
BENNETT GORDON HALL
DOMINIC CHELI,
piano
†
BRAHMS
Rhapsody in E- at major, op.
, no.
SCRIABIN
Fantasy in B minor, op.
SCRIABIN
Poème
in F-sharp major, op. , no.
CARL VINE
Piano Sonata No.
I.
II.
–
–
BRAHMS
Six Piano Pieces, op.
Intermezzo in A minor
Intermezzo in A major
Ballade in G minor
Intermezzo in F minor
Romance in F major
Intermezzo in E- at minor
LISZT
Réminiscences de Don Juan
†
Ravinia debut
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