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Meet the trans actress who could make Oscar history

There has never been a movie quite like “Emilia Pérez,” so it’s fitting that its star Karla Sofía Gascón is one of a kind, too.

In the film from director Jacques Audiard, Gascón plays a Mexico City cartel kingpin who fakes death in order to transition abroad in secret. Years after her gender-affirming surgery, the newly rechristened Emilia contacts the lawyer who helped arrange it (Zoe Saldaña) and has one more request: a reunion with the unsuspecting wife (Selena Gomez) and children she left behind, even though returning to the scene of her old crimes could have dire consequences.

The multitude of genres suggested by this synopsis – a gritty drug-world exposé, a family melodrama, a trans-empowerment narrative – are further complicated by the fact that “Emilia Pérez” is a musical, meaning the characters are liable to break into song whether they’re in a love scene or clashing in a heated gunfight. In a film full of big swings, it’s hard to imagine any of the wild ideas holding together if it weren’t for Gascón, who can contain all of those multitudes in a single freighted look. Many pundits believe that after Netflix releases “Emilia Pérez” in November, Gascón will make history as the first openly trans actress nominated for an Oscar.

In May, the 52-year-old Gascón was the breakout star of the Cannes Film Festival, where “Emilia Pérez” won a best actress award that was shared among all of the movie’s leading women. Since her castmates had returned home before the awards ceremony, an overcome Gascón took the stage on their behalf, and her emotional speech was the night’s highlight. At the microphone for nearly six minutes, Gascón flitted between Spanish and English as she tearfully asserted the humanity of trans people, joked about bribing the jurors, paid romantic tribute to her co-star Gomez, then apologized to Gomez’s boyfriend for her ardor.

Afterward, Gascón tried to explain her speech’s breathless sprawl. “I’ve never been given a prize,” she told reporters. “I’ve mostly been given blows and kicks.”

Spanish-speaking audiences may already be familiar with Gascón, a veteran of Mexican telenovelas who starred in the hit 2013 film “Nosotros los Nobles” and transitioned six years ago while in the public eye. “It was very difficult,” she told me recently over lunch in Los Angeles. “People knew me a certain way and then I changed, so I constantly felt that I had to justify myself. I was always fighting with everyone.”

To have her identity and transition dissected in editorials and on talk shows was a constant struggle. “When you go through those moments, you have the impression that the whole world is against you,” she said. “Some of the criticism is people saying, ‘What you did to yourself is going against your nature.’ I want to tell them, look at yourself in the mirror! If you’re that natural, take off your clothes, go hunt for rabbits in the wild, and let your nails grow. Let’s see how nature will suit you then!”

Gascón, speaking in Spanish with a translator present, talks with the excitement of someone who knows herself well and can’t wait to tell you what she’s learned. As we lunched by the pool at the Sunset Tower Hotel, she sometimes held court at such length that her translator filled three pages of a legal pad just scribbling down a single story. (Whenever the translator struggled to catch up, Gascón’s eyes flickered with comic impatience.) In that way, she is quite unlike Emilia, who needs to say very little to be heard.

Most of the time, though, Gascón can’t help but recall her character. As we ate, I noticed the same quicksilver shifts from gravity to levity that had proved so compelling in her performance. When I mentioned that to Saldaña on a call a few days later, she laughed. “I’m telling you,” she said, “there were moments in which I was like, what is the difference between Emilia and Karla?”

Audiard put it more bluntly: “I think that Emilia is Karla Sofía. I wouldn’t know where one starts and the other ends.”

At times, even Gascón was confused. Before filming “Emilia Pérez,” she had shared her own life experiences with Audiard, who began to tailor the titular role to his star. Once production began, Gascón burrowed so deeply into character that she wondered whether Emilia would ever be possible to shake.

”To remove this character, it’s almost like I had to do an exorcism,” she said.

GASCÓN HAS NEVER been afraid to dream big. Born in Alcobendas, Spain, a town near Madrid, she was raised in a working-class family but felt destined for stardom.

“At 16 years old, I woke up one day knowing what I had to do – don’t ask me how,” Gascón said.

She used her mother’s old rotary phone to call Televisión Española to inform the broadcaster that she wanted to appear onscreen. Gascón’s ambition far outstripped her opportunities – the only jobs available then were background-player gigs – but she took everything she could find and kept at it, eventually working her way up to commercials and minor TV shows.

Still, she yearned for more. Director Julián Pastor encouraged her to move to Mexico, where she was cast in projects that required horse-riding and sword fighting. “It was full of action and adventure, exactly what I was looking for,” she said.

To adapt to Mexico’s exaggerated telenovela style, an acting teacher advised her to go in the opposite direction, encouraging her to be more naturalistic, less broad. “That got me into a lot of trouble because instead it was the producers who had to adapt to me,” she said. But the biggest adaptation was still to come.

By her mid-40s, with several career successes under her belt, Gascón still had not yet begun to live openly as a woman, and the years spent in secret had taken their toll. “There were some very painful moments,” she said. “I even thought of taking my own life at some points.” With the support of her family, she made the decision to pursue gender-affirming surgery. Of her wife, Marisa, whom Gascón has been with since they met in a nightclub as teenagers, she said: “We’ve obviously shared a big chunk of our lives together, but I’ve never deceived her about who I was.”

Still, Gascón made the decision knowing it could cost her everything in the career she had worked so hard for. “When I finished my transition, I didn’t know if I was going to have a career after that,” she said.

IN 2022, WHEN Audiard, the director of acclaimed dramas like “A Prophet” and “Rust and Bone,” embarked on his casting search for “Emilia Pérez,” he found himself frustrated. Sessions in Los Angeles and Mexico City had come up empty, in part because Audiard originally conceived the character as much younger. “I realized I was wrong about the character’s age,” he said. “If they were too young, it’s as if they didn’t have a history.”

That much, Gascón had in spades. After transitioning, a diverse creative portfolio had helped her get by – Gascón has written two books and competed on a celebrity edition of “MasterChef” in Mexico – and an eight-episode role in the Netflix series “Rebelde” served to reestablish her as a performer. But she had never made anything like “Emilia Pérez,” and when the audition came her way, she nearly passed, fearing the musical elements were out of her reach.

Still, she put herself on tape and earned a flight to Paris to meet Audiard, who said they formed an instant connection. “The minute I saw her, that was it,” he explained, praising Gascón’s sense of authority and playfulness: “That’s what you call presence.”

While making “Emilia Pérez,” Gascón moved to Paris without her family in an effort to commit fully to the character. Sometimes, that intensity could be destabilizing.

“There were two moments in particular when I went to the depth of darkness in my own life,” she said, singling out scenes when Emilia wakes up in the hospital after surgery and later when she is reunited with a son who no longer recognizes her. “My brain didn’t want to go back to that place.”

Just as Emilia does, Gascón leaned on Saldaña and Gomez to get by.

”Karla was very much the center of the whole story, so making sure that she had what she needed was important for all of us,” said Saldaña, who marveled at how deeply Gascón went into character: “I met Karla a year before we started shooting, and then I met Karla at the wrap party.”

Saldaña and Gomez invited her to shake off the production at a Beyoncé concert, but Gascón demurred and headed home to Madrid. She needed to see her family, though her teenage daughter couldn’t believe the concert (and company) she’d just turned down.

”When my daughter found out, she was like, ‘Are you insane? How could you say no to that?’” Gascón said, laughing.

WHILE IN LOS ANGELES, GASCÓN dropped by Netflix to discuss her promotional tour, which will involve a flurry of film festivals, then a sustained awards campaign that may make history. (Though she would be the first openly trans actress recognized by the Oscars, the first openly trans performer to receive any nomination was singer Anohni, who was up for best song in 2016 but boycotted the ceremony. Elliot Page, who was nominated for the 2007 film “Juno,” came out publicly as trans in 2020.)

After a screening at Netflix, Gascón told me that a staffer there had praised her performance but failed to realize she also played Emilia before her transition, when the character presents as a gruff, bearded drug lord.

“I can tell you that from an egocentric point of view, I’m mad that people don’t realize it’s me playing both,” she said, “but at the same time, I feel very proud, too.”

Audiard initially sought to cast a cisgender male actor as Emilia before her transition, presuming that Gascón wouldn’t want to play that portion of the role. Instead, she fought for it.

“Now I understand why she was so interested, because for her, playing the role of a man is an activity that requires creativity,” Audiard said. “As an actress, this is something you don’t refuse.”

Gascón knows that when “Emilia Pérez” debuts on Netflix, her trans identity will be subjected to scrutiny from a global audience. Even during her Cannes speech in May, she predicted, “Tomorrow, there will be plenty of comments from terrible people saying the same things about all of us trans people.” Indeed, the morning after, French politician Marion Maréchal posted on the social platform X a comment that translated to: “So a man has won best actress.”

Gascón filed a legal complaint about the insult and posted her own colorful rejoinder on X a few days later: “No matter how much you bark, you gargoyles of Beelzebub,” Gascón wrote, “you will not be able to blur what I have achieved.”

This pattern – for every personal victory, a public controversy – is one Gascón has gotten used to, though going forward, she hopes she will be less inclined to engage with people who attack her in bad faith.

”I think I can contribute more just by talking about my work,” she said, “even though I’ve received hundreds of offers to talk to people and I still get the hunch sometimes to talk to JK Rowling and tell her, ‘Hey, what’s your problem?’” She was referring to the “Harry Potter” author’s negative comments on trans women and her criticism of Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, whose eligibility was questioned despite the International Olympic Committee’s strong defense: “It’s always the same story of these people trying to find a new victim to generate more hate.”

Though she conceded that words could sometimes wound her, Gascón felt it was a small price to pay for personal authenticity. “I have a level of freedom that many would envy,” she said. She said she hoped that feeling of inner peace could be retained during the monthslong awards campaign about to begin.

“I am 52 years old, and at this age I am in balance,” she said. “Other people are thinking, ‘Wow, this is a special moment, you must be very nervous or very excited.’ No, I am normal. I prefer it that way.”

Whether she makes Oscar history for “Emilia Pérez,” only one thing has her truly concerned.

“What I’m afraid of,” she said, “is how am I going to be able to top this?”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .

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The Vuelta a España Is More Exciting than the Tour de France. Here’s Why You Should Watch.

There’s a barnburner of a bike race going on in Spain right now, and a plucky underdog is attempting to hold off a hard-charging juggernaut

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Close your eyes and picture the following scene:

The starting gun sounds at the New York City Marathon and elite runners sprint over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and into Brooklyn. Suddenly, Eluid Kipchoge and a small group of pre-race favorites stop at a bodega—they sip coffees and munch bacon, egg, and cheeses while the mid-pack guys gallop out of sight. One minute goes by, then three, then five.

Finally, Kipchoge and his pals pay their bill, jog onto the course, and begin chasing after the leaders, leaving bewildered fans to wonder if they can close the gap before Central Park, or if they’ve been undone by Napoleon-level hubris.

Sounds pretty improbable, right? Well, that scenario is currently playing out at cycling’s three-week Vuelta a España , and hardcore cycling fans—including yours truly—are transfixed by this race across Spain between a proverbial tortoise and hare.

After 11 of 21 stages, Slovenian racer Primoz Roglic, a three-time Vuelta champion, and the other pre-race favorites trail an Australian cyclist named Ben O’Connor, who is no slouch, but also isn’t a top-tier star. Roglic and his rivals essentially took a siesta on the race’s sixth stage and allowed O’Connor to get a massive head start in the battle for the red jersey—the getup worn by the race’s overall leader.

And now, they must chip away at O’Connor’s advantage, one stage at a time.

The Tour’s Drunk Uncle

Fans of the Tour de France are accustomed to the predictable ebb-and-flow that occurs during each stage. Shortly after the racers start, six or seven lesser-known riders accelerate up the road to form the day’s breakaway, while the stars of the sport stay in the peloton. For the next few hours, the race’s worker bees, or domestiques, ride a steady tempo at the front of the peloton to keep the breakaway’s advantage to no more than three minutes.

Then, as the race approaches the finish, or a major climb, the peloton accelerates and reels the group back in, setting up star riders to battle for victory. Bing, bang, boom. This controlled style of racing is especially evident during the Tour’s first half—the overall winner is crowned on cumulative time, so star riders tend to keep an eye on each other and wait for the mountains that come in weeks two and three.

The Vuelta a España is like the Tour’s drunk uncle—unpredictable and impossible to control. Some days the breakaway will swell to 20 or 30 riders. Oftentimes the peloton will simply give up and allow the front group to contest the victory. And every so often, a guy with a legitimate shot of winning the overall will slip into the breakaway and get a huge advantage on his rivals.

During last year’s Vuelta, American racer Sepp Kuss gained a huge advantage over the pre-race favorites by joining a big breakaway on stage 6. Kuss then defended his advantage from his own teammates and eventually won the overall by just 8 seconds.

Situations like this one are why hardcore cycling fans often prefer the race around Spain to the Tour de France. It’s harder to predict, and almost every year something completely out of left field occurs, like a windstorm , or a poorly-organized finish line , or a 41-year-old guy winning .

Why is the Vuelta so kooky? The stakes are lower in Spain than in France, so the desire to control every inch of the course is less intense. Some riders are exhausted from the long season, while others are fresh. And temperatures regularly soar into triple digits, which saps people’s legs, lungs, and willpower.

History Repeats Itself

Kuss’ winning strategy was front-of-mind during stage 6 of this year’s Vuelta. Roglic began the day in the red jersey and appeared to be the strongest guy in the race. But then he got careless or tired.

After a frenetic early half of the stage, a breakaway formed with 34 riders in it, among them O’Connor. Behind, Roglic’s Red Bull-Bora team refused to set the pace for the peloton, and the main group dropped way behind. At times, Roglic and other riders in the main pack looked like they were sightseeing. The breakaway, meanwhile, opened a seven-minute gap over the field.

When the peloton finally snapped out of its slumber and mounted a chase, it was too late. O’Connor accelerated out of the breakaway and won the stage, and the peloton limped across the finish line six minutes later. In the new overall standings, called the general classification, O’Connor led Roglic by 4:51—a massive head start.

“KAPOW BEN O’CONNOR BRINGS IT IN!” 😮 Ben O’Connor shocks the peloton and rides his way into the leaders jersey at La Vuelta. He now has a win in all three grand tours what a ride! 👏🔴 pic.twitter.com/5xeJHdwjWX — Eurosport (@eurosport) August 22, 2024

Underestimating Ben O’Connor

Why did the peloton give Ben O’Connor so much time? He’s no slowpoke: O’Connor finished fourth overall at both the 2021 Tour de France and 2024 Giro d’Italia.

My sneaking suspicion is that Roglic and the Vuelta stars held a viewing party for season two of Netflix’s cycling docuseries Unchained: Tour de France , which aired back in June. One of the season’s eight episodes focuses almost entirely on O’Connor and his rollercoaster-like emotions. Clips show O’Connor erupting with f-bombs, slamming car doors, and generally acting like a frustrated toddler when things go wrong at the Tour. Interviews with O’Connor’s coaches present the conundrum that his French team, called Decathlon AG2R, must manage: O’Connor has the talent but not the temperament to win.

“Ben is an aggressive rider with a strong character, who sometimes struggles to control his emotions,” team manager Julien Jardine says in the episode.

“We are working with Ben so he can control his emotions when things go wrong,” Jardine adds.

An explosive temper may seem trivial, but controlling one’s emotions is a huge part of winning a grand tour. Every rider faces at least one setback during a three-week race—a crash, flat tire, or mental lapse—but the sport’s very best know how to stay cool amid calamities and limit their losses to just a few seconds here and there. Whether or not O’Connor can keep his calm during the final half of the Vuelta only adds to the intrigue.

The Margin Narrows

After 11 stages, Roglic and the other top riders have already taken a big bite out of O’Connor’s advantage. On stage 8, Roglic dropped O’Connor and took back 56 seconds; on stage 11 he grabbed another 37. O’Connor’s gap has tumbled from 4:51 to 3:16, and there are ten hard stages left to go. Every one represents an opportunity for Roglic to attack and bring himself closer to the red jersey.

🚀 … and Roglic and Mas are off! ¡Y se marchan 🇸🇮 @rogla y 🇪🇸 @EnricMasNicolau ! #LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/TvyHnytZAU — La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 28, 2024

This is one of the reasons why hardcore cycling fans like myself often prefer the Vuelta to the Tour. During the Tour, organizers chart out flat stages, mountainous routes, and individual time trials—each different type of route has its own controlled style of racing.

But at the Vuelta, organizers like to toss in a super steep climb near the finish of each stage as a way to inject unpredictability and action into the race. On long, grinding climbs in the Alps, dropped riders can pace off of their teammates to catch back on; that’s not the case on a 22-percent ramp. Short and sheer ascents often boil the race down to mano-a-mano clashes, and a rider suffering from bad legs can hemorrhage time.

Yep, even a hare who is minutes behind can catch a tortoise.

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Fans' concert reviews, théâtre corona in montreal, canada on mon, 09 may 2016.

Discovered the concert was canceled when I arrived at the Corona Theater (after driving for 2 hours to get there and paying for parking). With no valid explanation (as of yet) as to the reasons behind the cancellation I am left feeling annoyed and frustrated.

The Chicago Theatre in Chicago, US on Sat, 06 Jun 2015

I've waited YEARS for the opportunity to see Ben Folds perform Live. All that build up gave me incredibly high expectations. Little did I know that the actual show would far exceed all of these expectations. The collaboration between the artist and orchestra was remarkable and not only has my love for Ben Folds grown, but I have a new appreciation for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra as well. Truly grateful for the experience you shared with us all. Thanks to everyone involved!

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• The Chicago Theatre in Chicago, US Sat, 06 Jun 2015 100% from 1 rating
• The National in Richmond, US Sat, 17 Sep 2016 75% from 1 rating
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Ben folds 2024–2025 tour dates view all, ben folds tour history, about ben folds.

Ben Folds was born 57 years ago, on Monday, 12 September 1966.

Based on our research data, it appears, that the first Ben Folds concert happened 29 years ago on Fri, 08 Sep 1995 in Alice Tully Hall - New York (NYC), US and that the last Ben Folds concert was 12 days ago on Sun, 18 Aug 2024 in The Factory - Chesterfield - Chesterfield, US.

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Ben Folds tour dates 2024 - 2025

Ben Folds is currently touring across 1 country and has 49 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, after that they'll be at Grand Theatre, Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno.

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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

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Martin Center for the Arts, ETSU

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Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater

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Ben Folds always puts on a good show and worth checking out, especially if you’ve never seen him Live. I’ve seen him in concert about 10 times since 1995. Symphony concerts with Folds are always more special and they add a lot to his songs, I’ve seen him 3 or 4 times with the St Louis Symphony.

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Had a great time at the show. He told some great stories and played from much of his catalog. Most of the songs were older stuff but he also played some newer songs as well, the more popular tracks that most of the crowd seemed to be familiar with. He played for over two hours too, a solid set.

Ben Folds was freaking amazing!!! He didn't just get up there and play music, he interacted with the audience. And the music was phenomenal! (Only to be expected because, well, he's Ben freaking Folds!) The man has talent and he works magic. I wish I could see him again right now...

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The Music Hall

Ben folds: what matters most tour, ben folds solo.

Born and raised in North Carolina, Folds first rose to fame in the mid-90s with Ben Folds Five, whose acerbic, genre-bending take on piano pop helped define an entire era of alternative rock. After scoring multiple hit singles and a gold record with the band, Folds launched his solo career in 2001, releasing a series of similarly acclaimed albums that would firmly establish him as one of the most ambitious and versatile songwriters of his generation. In 2021, he launched the Lightning Bugs podcast, an interview series on creativity and process with guests as diverse as Jon Batiste, Sara Bareilles, Bob Saget, and Rainn Wilson. 

Folds’ masterful new collection, What Matters Most , is an offering, an open hand reaching out to all those wounded and bewildered by a world that seems to make less and less sense every day. Recorded in East Nashville with co-producer Joe Pisapia, the album marks Folds’ first new studio release in eight years, and it’s a bold, timely, cinematic work, one that examines the tragic and the absurd in equal measure as it reckons with hope and despair, gratitude and loss, identity, and perspective. The songs are bittersweet here, hilarious at times, but often laced with a quiet sense of longing and dread. And yet, taken as a whole, the result is an undeniably joyful record that refuses to succumb to the weight of the world around it, an ecstatic reminder of all the beauty and promise hiding in plain sight for anyone willing (and present enough) to recognize their moments as they arrive.

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• June 4, 2024 Setlist

Ben Folds Setlist at Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte, NC, USA

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Tour: Ben Folds Paper Airplane Request Tour (2024) Tour statistics Add setlist

• Capable of Anything Play Video
• Sentimental Guy Play Video
• The Ascent of Stan Play Video
• Fragile Play Video
• Kristine From the 7th Grade Play Video
• Effington Play Video
• Still Fighting It Play Video
• Me and Maurice Play Video
• Set 2: Paper Airplane Requests
• Philosophy ( Ben Folds Five  song) Play Video
• Rockin' the Suburbs Play Video
• I Love Ben Folds ( improvised ) Play Video
• Gracie Play Video
• Landed Play Video
• Kate ( Ben Folds Five  song) Play Video
• The Luckiest Play Video
• Cactus Express / Rock This Bitch (with Lindsey Kraft ) Play Video
• Learn to Live With What You Are Play Video
• Zak and Sara Play Video
• Bastard Play Video
• Gone Play Video

Edits and Comments

11 activities (last edit by event_monkey , 31 Jul 2024, 00:22 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Rockin' the Suburbs
• Still Fighting It
• The Ascent of Stan
• The Luckiest
• Zak and Sara
• Sentimental Guy
• Cactus Express / Rock This Bitch
• I Love Ben Folds
• Me and Maurice
• Kristine From the 7th Grade
• Kate by Ben Folds Five
• Philosophy by Ben Folds Five
• Capable of Anything
• Learn to Live With What You Are

Complete Album stats

More from this Artist

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Related News

Ben Folds Cleared For Takeoff For 74 Paper Airplane Request Gigs

Setlist History: Ben Folds Live Debuts Songs off "Way to Normal"

Ben folds gig timeline.

• Jun 01 2024 Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater Peachtree City, GA, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 02 2024 The Caverns Pelham, TN, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 04 2024 Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center This Setlist Charlotte, NC, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 06 2024 District Live Savannah, GA, USA Add time Add time
• Jun 07 2024 Sandler Center for the Performing Arts Virginia Beach, VA, USA Add time Add time

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[url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ben-folds/2024/belk-theater-at-blumenthal-performing-arts-center-charlotte-nc-13abdd75.html][img]https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=13abdd75[/img][/url] [url=https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=13abdd75&amp;step=song]Edit this setlist[/url] | [url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/ben-folds-73d6d6e1.html]More Ben Folds setlists[/url]

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Aug 13, 2024

Aug 11, 2024, aug 10, 2024, aug 8, 2024, aug 6, 2024, aug 5, 2024, aug 3, 2024, aug 2, 2024, jul 31, 2024, jul 30, 2024, jul 27, 2024, jul 21, 2024, jul 20, 2024, jul 18, 2024, jul 17, 2024, jul 16, 2024, jul 14, 2024, jul 13, 2024, jul 12, 2024, jun 29, 2024, jun 28, 2024, jun 27, 2024, jun 25, 2024, jun 23, 2024, jun 22, 2024, jun 21, 2024, jun 14, 2024, jun 11, 2024, jun 9, 2024, jun 8, 2024, jun 7, 2024, jun 6, 2024, jun 4, 2024, jun 2, 2024, jun 1, 2024, may 31, 2024, may 30, 2024, apr 24, 2024, apr 23, 2024, apr 21, 2024, apr 20, 2024, apr 19, 2024, apr 18, 2024.

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Convention Center, Entertainment, Expo & Sports Venue

Paper Airplane Tour

Presented by Exceptional Artists

Presale: Thursday, May 2 from 10:00am to 10:00pm

On sale: Friday, May 3 at 10:00am

Ticket Prices: $39.00-$99.00

ABOUT THE SHOW

Ben   Folds  is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation.

The Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter-composer has created an enormous body of genre- ben ding music that includes pop albums with  Ben   Folds  Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records.

For the past three decades, he’s toured as a pop artist, while also performing with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras.

A New York Times Best Selling author and podcast host,  Ben  also composes for film, tv and theatre, guest stars in films and TV, and serves as the Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

A longtime advocate for arts and music education funding,  Ben  launched a music education charitable initiative in his native state of North Carolina entitled “Keys For Kids,” which provides funds and keyboards to existing nonprofits that provide free or affordable music lessons to interested school-age children. On the national level, he’s active as a member of Americans For The Arts and the Arts Action Fund.

Learn more at benfolds.com

For enhanced safety and speed of entry, we encourage guests not to bring bags of any kind to entertainment events. However, the following bags may be carried into the venue: • Small bags not exceeding 4.5” x 6.5” such as a clutch purse, wristlet, or wallet • Medically necessary bags, including breast pumps • Diaper bags for individuals/families with a child/children under age 3

All guests will be subject to a search of their person and possessions prior to entering DECC facilities for applicable events. All permissible bags will be subject to inspection by security personnel. Guests should be prepared to open their bags for inspection and may be asked by a security representative to shift and/or remove the contents of their bag.

DECC security personnel reserve the right to confiscate items that may cause damage to DECC facilities or danger/disruption to an event. Guests who violate building policies or decline to be searched may be denied entry or ejected from DECC facilities.

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Paper Airplane Request Tour

• Date July 30 , 2024
• Event Starts 7:30 PM
• Ticket Prices $49.50, $59.50, $69.50, $79.50, $99.50 (plus ticketing fees)
• Availability On Sale Now
• Doors Open 60-minutes prior to showtime.
• Age Guideline All Ages. The Morrison Center encourages you to do your research on specific titles and decide what is appropriate for you and your party before tickets are purchased.

Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation. The Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter-composer has created an enormous body of genre-bending music, including pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records.

He toured as a pop artist for three decades and performed with some of the world's greatest symphony orchestras. A New York Times Best-Selling author and podcast host, Ben also composes for film, TV, and theatre, guest stars in movies and TV, and serves as the Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

A longtime advocate for arts and music education funding, Ben launched a music education charitable initiative in his native state of North Carolina entitled "Keys For Keys." This initiative provides funds and keyboards to existing nonprofits that provide free or affordable music lessons to interested school-age children. On the national level, he's an active member of Americans For The Arts and the Arts Action Fund.

Additional Ticket Information

• Everyone, regardless of age, requires a ticket for entry. 
• Parking is included with ticket purchase. 
• Ticket fees include $1.00 for Ben Folds' Charity, Keys for Kids
• VIP Package Add-ons are available via www.BenFolds.com

Related Links

• Ben Folds Facebook
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• Ben Folds on X
• Ben Folds on Spotify
• Ben Folds YouTube

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