Ben Folds first found mainstream success as the leader of the critically acclaimed platinum-selling Ben Folds Five. He has gone on to have a very successful solo career, recording three studio albums in addition to a pair of records documenting his renowned live performances and a remix record. Folds also recently released Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!, a collection of his songs performed by college groups. In 2009, Folds was featured as a judge on NBC’s a cappella competition The Sing-Off (a role he will reprise later this year on the show’s second season). Folds previously collaborated with Hornby on a song for the Folds-produced William Shatner album Has Been, which the Huffington Post called “one of the few records in recent memory that dared to tell the unvarnished truth about the human condition.”

Folds also has a special relationship with symphony musicians, having performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras including a record-breaking sold-out Australian tour in 2006 and repeatedly sold-out nights at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops with conductor Keith Lockhart, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.