Ben Rector & Cody Fry live with the GR Symphony

GR symphony with Ben Rector and Cody Fry – Photo by Joel Grimsley

By Joel Grimsley, Arts Editor

Grand Rapids, Mich. — Multi-talented and viral musicians Ben Rector and Cody Fry collaborated with the Grand Rapids Symphony to deliver a most innovative and unique performance on Friday Oct. 25.

The event which was hosted in the DeVos Performance Hall was the last in a national tour, where all 2,500 seats were sold out. The full house was composed of audiences from around the country, travelling as far away as Georgia and Florida with even some international attention.

The tour introduces a one-of-a-kind partnership between two artists: Ben Rector, independent musician renowned for his passionate and melodic piano-driven pop music, and Cody Fry, a talented singer, songwriter, composer, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, who has written music ranging from video games to a McDonald’s Super Bowl commercial.

Rector who is known for his songwriting, and Fry who is famed for his instrumental flourish, coupled with a full orchestra which offered pop music to remember. The Grand Rapids Symphony, which is in its 94^th season, accompanied the couple and was led by Duo Shen. Those familiar with Fry’s music will understand the ethereal combination of this work, with his unique composition pairings in a genre called orchestral pop.

The arrangements including a full orchestra make the music impersonate classical pieces but remain accessible through grounded lyrics and cinematic crescendo. These are often paired with strange narratives, the concert included sweeping instrumentals with lyrics regarding love, dreams and some even more bizarre scenarios such as ‘Waltz for Sweatpants.’ Both artists’ pieces fully utilise the full orchestra to give startling contrasts of intensity such as the climax of ‘Underground,’ a song about getting hit by a train.

The show also offered a new take on classics with pieces such as Fry’s Grammy nominated cover of the Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ whose composition is magnified by a majestic orchestration that also highlighted the more interactive aspects of the performance. Rector and Fry instructed the audience some lyrics in order to harmonize and actively encouraged the crowd to become part of the performance. This added an incredible depth in the hall through a live choir, and provided an interactive aspect to the concert.

The combination of a classical orchestral performance and pop music is not clearer in Fry’s re-harmonization of Debussy’s ‘Clare De Lune’ that preludes Fry’s piece ‘Photograph’ that creates one continuous piece where both songs stand strongly beside one another. An orchestral ballad that’s matched with the artist’s music makes the way for a beautiful and emotional punchline and a golden example of orchestral pop.

The show also offered a new translation of some of Rector’s biggest hits such as ‘Brand New’ and ‘Living My Best Life’ as the symphonic orchestra accompanied his songs, adding layers of depth and a larger build up and volume.

Whilst both artists were able to perform separately accompanied by the orchestra, part of the performance’s highlights were the chemistry between musicians. Rector and Fry have been collaborating for over a decade and have a musical bond built upon past experiences collaborating with Orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This friendship was reflected on stage, with witty comments made between songs as the artists took turns playing their own songs, and closely shared the spotlight to best exhibit both artists’ individual work. Their collaboration is more apparent in songs such as Rector’s song ‘Duo’ where both musicians shared the stool to a grand piano simultaneously playing in a comedic duet that had the crowd laughing as they reached over each other.

For many in the crowd the event was more than a musical performance, both Rector and Fry recognized all the music students present, asking them to stand and receive an applause, but specifically drew attention to the music teachers, as “they made this happen” in reference to the symphony concert. There were even a few Aquinas students in the audience that Friday, including student Mary Kampe, a sophomore at AQ. “As a music student, I loved how he recognized all the music teachers. I would be nowhere without the support and guidance of all my teachers… It was also nice to see thriving musicians remember the struggle and imposter syndrome, burnout and lack of money,” said Kampe.

The audience’s reception of the event was overwhelmingly positive, with multiple standing ovations throughout the entire event and not just at the end, acknowledging both artists respectively for their performance and the GR Symphony for an ethereal evening of cinematic orchestral music.