Singer-songwriter Cody Fry connects pop and classical worlds on orchestral tour

In a new chapter of his musical career, singer-songwriter Cody Fry has hit the tour circuit with his old friend, Ben Rector, to perform with orchestras across the country. They play two sold-out shows with the Minnesota Orchestra on June 15 and 16 in Minneapolis.

Bringing a cinematic pop flavor to his compositions, Fry has emerged as a major voice in the pop-classical crossover world. His new path to live performance with orchestras has been solidified with early performances with the Metropole Orkest in the Netherlands and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.

To start this story, however, let’s go back to the beginning. Fry’s musical background reaches back — as in way back. His father, Gary Fry, wrote orchestral and commercial compositions. The elder Fry’s writings are prolific and include more than 2,500 national radio and TV commercials for major brands.

After graduating from Belmont University with a degree in commercial music, Fry began a career straddling film/TV scores and songwriting. These twin interests finally came together.

After having a blast experimenting with an orchestral feeling on the 2017 album Flying, Fry ventured on. That’s where he struck the TikTok jackpot.

In 2021, his piece “I Hear a Symphony” — a nostalgic and romantic ode to the ways love finds and repairs us — hit No. 1 on the Billboard Classical Tracks chart. It went on to become a gold single and launched Fry into new territory.

An arrangement of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” reaffirmed Fry’s newfound status as an orchestral pop magic-maker. The track even garnered him a Grammy nomination. His clever video for the song features the printed score and written comments to guide the viewer, whom he congratulates for being a “nerd” like him.

Where else to go from here than a tour? Performing live with orchestras has been a joy for Fry, who relishes the grandeur of orchestra halls. It’s the massive and massively collaborative process of working with scores of musicians that makes the experience unique and inimitable for him.

As much fun as he is having on the road, he hopes that his work also will allow younger audiences to return to the concert halls.

It’s clear that Fry brings in influences from various parts of the broadly defined “classical world,” from major film composers such as John Williams and Hans Zimmer to staple classical composers such as Claude Debussy.

But one name stands out as a favorite: Dario Marianelli, whose score for the 2007 film Atonement won the Oscar for best score.

Fry has concerts booked through September. One can only imagine that the list will continue to grow as he pushes the boundaries between pop and classical.