Also in 1997, Simmons increased his television prolificacy by taking on the role of Dr. Parlaying his small-screen notoriety into feature film opportunities, Simmons had a small part in the 1997 thriller The Jackal and played a leading role in Frank Todaro’s low-budget comedy Above Freezing, a runner-up for the most popular film at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. In that same vein, Simmons first gained wide exposure as Vern Schillinger, the leader of an Aryan Brotherhood-type organization in prison in the HBO series Oz. He appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway shows and also did some television - his early roles included the portrayal of a white supremacist responsible for multiple murders in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street.

He turned to theater in the late 1970s and appeared in many regional productions in the Pacific Northwest before moving to New York in 1983. Jonathan Kimble Simmons was originally a singer, with a degree in music from the University of Montana. He is also Chairman of the Arts Action Fund’s ArtsVote2020 national initiative to advocate for a greater commitment to the nation’s creative economy through improved public policies for the arts and arts education, and hosts a podcast series of interviews on arts policies with 2020 candidates. He is also no stranger to television, having been featured for five seasons as a judge on NBC’s critically-acclaimed a capella show “The Sing Off.” He continues to appear in cameo roles on cable and network TV shows, and composes for film and TV.Īn avid photographer, Folds is a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, has worked as an assignment photo editor for National Geographic, and was featured in a mini-documentary by the Kennedy Center’s Digital Project on his photographic work.Īn outspoken champion for arts education and music therapy funding in our nation’s public schools, in 2016 Ben held the distinction as the only artist to appear at both national political conventions advocating for arts education, has served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts (AFTA), and serves on the Board of AFTA’s Arts Action Fund. In addition to solo rock and orchestral touring, Folds recently wrote a critically-acclaimed memoir “A Dream About Lightning Bugs,” which debuted as a New York Times Best Seller, and is described as a collection of interrelated essays, anecdotes and lessons about art, life, and music. For over a decade he’s performed with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras and currently serves as the first-ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. His last album was a blend of pop songs and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that soared to #1 on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts. He’s created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records. Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation.

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