Sunday, June 22, 2025
7:00 PM
On WCRB In Concert with the Boston Pops, hear the songs of a masterful storyteller cast in lush and cinematic orchestrations as Cody Fry makes his debut with the Pops. The first half of the concert features the winners of the Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition.
The Boston Pops
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Cody Fry, vocalist, pianist, and composer/arranger
Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition winners
SARASATE Ziegeunerweisen, Op. 20
- Iris Tian, violin
COPLAND Laurie's Song, from The Tender Land
- Margaret King, soprano
KORNGOLD Cello Concerto in C, Op. 37
- Noah Ferris, cello
CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11: I. Allegro maestoso
- Max Fan, piano
Presenting Cody Fry
To hear Cody Fry talk about music and lyricists who inspire him, his experience of performing in Symphony Hall for the first time, and his favorite memories of growing up in Chicago, use the player below, and read the transcript under.
Check out upcoming Boston Pops performances.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Brian McCreath So Cody Fry, I'm gonna throw you the softball, but I do wanna hear what you really have in your mind when I ask this, okay? Your first time to play Symphony Hall, and you're with the Boston Pops, just please tell me what the experience is for you right now.
Cody Fry I have to pinch myself to realize that I'm actually doing this. It's pretty stunning, honestly. The Pops are so legendary. I grew up listening to them. Obviously, I'm a massive John Williams fan. And so just knowing the conductor pedigree and Keith now... It's just, I don't know, man, I look around and I'm like, how did I even get here? How is this happening? So, I don't know, I'm as surprised as anyone else.
Brian McCreath So, because I'm fascinated with all the things you build into your music, and you're so great putting together videos that explain a lot of this and take you really deep into the weeds on some of this stuff. But it makes me really wonder – and I know your dad is this composer / arranger / conductor, a lot of commercial music so he is an absolute omnivore for music and I think he's passed that on to you – but tell me, beyond the sort of all-encompassing tastes that you have, w hat's your earliest memory of a favorite song or a favorite artist? Like something you grabbed onto as a kid and you're just like, oh, yes, I love that.
Cody Fry Yeah, oh gosh that's a good question. I don't really know. I remember had a tape cassette of "This Old Man" that I really liked. [laughs] I feel like "musical omnivore," I've never heard that before, and that's really great because I feel that's how I was raised. I think it's Quincy Jones who says there's only two types of music, good music and bad music. And so, I just feel like you can find good music anywhere. And I was raised and I try to be the type of person that has their ears open at all times just to kind of hear what's out there and just accept and digest any sort of cool music. I don't know, it's hard to pick favorites.
Brian McCreath What's the most recent thing that really grabbed your ear that you just kind of heard in the wild and you thought, oh, wow, there's something going on there that I wanna, like, log in my brain.
Cody Fry You know, this is insane, but I just for the first time heard Pines of Rome by Respighi, and I was just like, how have I never heard this before? It's insane. And so, I've just been digging into Pines of Rome recently. But yeah, there's so much great music happening right now. I think it's the most exciting time to kind of be in the music industry, truly, because the gatekeepers have all been knocked over. And so, anybody can kind of do anything they want. You know some guy can write orchestral music and play with the Boston Pops. Now that's the type of music industry we live in and it's so exciting.
Brian McCreath I love that you just got turned on to Pines of Rome, because I mean, that piece is, like, ridiculous.
Cody Fry I don't know how I missed it for so long. I don't know how I went so long without hearing it. People would say, it's the type of thing where they'd be like, "Oh man, it's like, Pines of Rome!" And I'd be like, "Totally! Love Pines of Rome!" Never heard it before in my whole life, until recently! Now I get it.
Brian McCreath But here's the thing. So, you do this really cool little unpacking of “Sound of Silence,” and you're talking about Debussy and “Nuages” [from Nocturnes] and how this is the inspiration for your opening of that. And I feel like there's gotta be something bubbling up from Pines that's gonna make its way into a song of yours.
Cody Fry Yeah, usually it does. When I hear something I like, it usually makes its way sneakily in some sort of inspirational way into my music. So maybe Pines of Rome will make an appearance.
Brian McCreath There are so many tools you've got going here. You've got an amazing voice, your guitar, you work your way around the piano. But you're a lyricist, you're a poet. Are there poets or lyricists that especially have inspired you or that you look to for ideas, for the syntax, for the images that kind of pull more things out of you?
Cody Fry I mean, you can just look at the covers I've done. So, Paul Simon, “Sound of Silence;” McCartney and Lennon, “Eleanor Rigby;” these are the guys that mastered the craft long ago. And I try to listen to as much of them as I can. I don't know, I've never been super into poetry, although I know Robert Frost recently went public domain, and I thought, man, it'd be fun to do some settings of his poems. But for me, I try to make my lyrics feel conversationally elegant, if that makes sense. So, I don't want them to feel unapproachable, but I also want to try to make you feel smarter for having listened to them, if that makes sense. Maybe that's pompous to say, but it's just like, I don't want the lyrics to feel so, kind of, out there or poetic that they can't be relatable. [I want] someone on a first listen [to] hear it and understand and digest and feel it. And I think that's so important, especially if someone's hearing my music for the first time. I want them to hear it once and never forget it. That's kind of the way that I try to write my songs.
Brian McCreath I love that. Okay, so here you are at Symphony Hall. It's a hall we know so well here in Boston. We're always excited when someone comes here for the first time to experience this place. But tell me, is there a hall, a venue, a place that's kind of your dream, that you haven't played yet? You've played so many places, but where would you find yourself and feel even more what you're feeling, what you just described? Like, I can't even believe I'm here.
Cody Fry I mean, I've had a couple of those. For me, when I played Orchestra Hall in Chicago, that was really special because that's where I grew up, and I grew watching the CSO [Chicago Symphony Orchestra]. And so that was really special. I think the venues that I haven't played yet, one would be Carnegie Hall, I'd love to do that. That sounds quite fun. And then the other one is Royal Albert in London, I've not done. And I'd love to do the Hollywood Bowl, but that seats like 12,000 people. So maybe, maybe with some other artists, we could band together and sell 12,00 tickets, but that would be great fun as well.
Brian McCreath Okay, Carnegie, Hollywood Bowl, and Royal Albert, you all know what to do next.
Cody Fry Yes!
Brian McCreath Okay, last question. What's your favorite Cubs memory from Wrigley Field?
Cody Fry Oh gosh, I remember one time as a gift to my grandfather, my dad... My grandparents lived in Iowa. So, they drove into Chicago and my dad hired a limousine to pick up me and my little sister and my grandparents. And the limo took us to Wrigley Field because my grandpa was a huge Cubs fan. And we had great seats on the first base line and like, we got to take a limo to the park, and we showed up and it was like, "We're at the Cubs game!" And I just remember, it's such a special park. And I know Fenway is very special and I've been to Fenway also. And I feel like those two ball fields are like the last remaining, like, old baseball feel. And that's what I love.
Brian McCreath That's fantastic. Cody, this has been really fun. Thanks a lot for your time.
Cody Fry Oh, great fun. Yeah, thanks for having me.