Ben Folds to reunite with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
The American songwriter and composer Ben Folds will be rockin’ the concert halls and theatres of Australia on a nine-date orchestral tour in January and February 2027.
Following sold-out solo shows earlier this year, the Ben Folds Five frontman will perform alongside state orchestras in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, and Tasmania, before a final two concerts with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at Her Majesty’s Theatre on February 18 and 19.
Over the years Folds has regularly performed and recorded with orchestras around Australia and the world, from the 2005 DVD release Ben Folds and the WASO Live in Perth, to his 2015 album So There, in which he collaborated with the yMusic Ensemble and Nashville Symphony.
Back home in America, Folds also served as an advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at Washington’s Kennedy Centre for many years – before resigning in 2025 following President Donald Trump’s interventions in the management and programming of the centre, which Trump also attempted to rename in his honour.
“Sharing the stage with an orchestra as my band is an honour I don’t take lightly,” Folds said in a statement. “I consider them among the finest musicians in the world and together we offer audiences a musical experience like no other.
“As a student of the orchestra, I sincerely believe they are a shining example of what we can accomplish in society when we all work in concert and harmony for a greater good.”
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It will mark Folds’ first performance in six years alongside the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with ASO Principal Trumpet David Khafagi welcoming the opportunity to share the stage with Folds once more.
“Ben is a true musician and natural entertainer,” Khafagi said. “With orchestra, his songs take on another dimension and it’s a thrill to be able to bring them to life every time we meet.”
The erstwhile Adelaide resident has been spending a lot of time in Australia lately; after his solo tour earlier this year, he bunkered down in Adelaide for a Fringe season as musical director and accompanist for actor and songwriter Lindsey Kraft. The musical they road tested in Adelaide, We’ve Been Here Before, has since premiered off-Broadway, and looking at the dates, a second Adelaide Fringe run seems plausible.
Speaking to InReview in March, Folds reflected on his onetime hometown, where he lived for several years with his Adelaide-born former wife Frally Hynes, and famously immortalised in the 2004 song ‘Adelaide’.
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“I come back after not having lived here for 25 years, and I see a really evolved place,” Folds said. “It’s like seeing kids that you haven’t seen in 20 years and now they’re working the stock market, doing cocaine. They were just in strollers a couple months ago.”
Tickets for the Adelaide shows are on sale now.
Ben Folds 2027 tour dates
Canberra (with Canberra Symphony Orchestra)
January 22-23, Llewellyn Hall
Melbourne (with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)
January 29-30, Hamer Hall
Sydney (with Sydney Symphony Orchestra)
February 2-3, Hordern Pavilion
Hobart (with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra)
February 6, Wrest Point
Adelaide (with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
February 18-19, Her Majesty’s Theatre
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