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Have You Seen This? Ben Folds composes song for orchestra in 10 minutes
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It takes me longer to get out of bed than it takes Ben Folds to compose an entire song for a full orchestra. - photo by John Clyde


THE SYMPHONY Recently, I met up with an old friend from high school who is a couple of years younger than me.

As we caught up, I found out he is the vice president at a large tech company and I had the realization that I am not as impressive as I once thought I was. Then I saw this video and realized that not only am I not impressive, but I am also not talented and I should basically never try at anything ever again. I'm actually pretty good at making fun of my brother, Dave, but I don't think that's a marketable skill.

Musician Ben Folds has recently been named as the artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra. As a part of that announcement, he was invited on stage at the Kennedy Center to join the orchestra and compose a song on the spot.

Taking suggestions for what key the song should be in as well as a line from the program, Folds had 10 minutes to compose a song for the orchestra, utilizing the suggestions.

The video is about 13-minutes long, but it will be the most impressive and jaw-dropping 13 minutes of your week. If you're like me, it will both astound and depress you. If your fortitude and self-confidence are stronger than mine I pray they are then you'll just be astounded, and that's a good thing.

This really is one of the most impressive things I've seen. I knew Folds was a gifted musician, but I didn't know he was brilliant. I love watching people in their element and see their brain work and do the seemingly impossible. That's exactly what we get in this video.