Cody Fry’s Holiday Arrangements Brought ‘Good Cheer’ To Minneapolis
Walking into Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall this past Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., it was (jokingly) hard to not feel like I might be in the wrong tax bracket! The venue is a gorgeous and elegant building, not intimidating in the slightest- but it does set the tone that what you’re about to experience is exceptional and special. The audience reflected exactly that as well, with lots of happy families and couples wandering the floor until the showtime, dressed warm and thoughtfully, with bits of holiday attire mixed in. I did see a gentleman with a very fun “tree” suit jacket that made me chuckle. Everyone was clearly happy to experience some of the holidays a little early!
Once we arrived at the actual concert hall itself, with the Orchestra already poised and at the ready, professional and sleek looking, everyone was obviously excited for what was to come. There was a sense of expectation in the room, but also of trust. You could tell a lot of these people had already seen this Orchestra perform, and while it was my first time here, I could sense that we were about to hear polished, intentional, and very clean music being performed for us.
That sense immediately paid off, with Fry and conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez taking the stage, leading us into a wonderful opening song of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”. The immediate rush of hearing all of the instruments come alive after tuning, and seeing Fry sit at the front and center piano, and start playing away really made everyone start to smile and be ready for the rest of the show. Some short introductions later, and the crew playing a few more songs, Cody introduced us to Scott Mulvahill, who was playing the Bass for this concert, and said he wanted to share something special with us. Boy, was it special! Scott spoke, telling us about an arrangement Cody had made for him of the song “The Lord is Coming”, and it started off with the focus on him. Plucking away at the bass, and singing solo for this song, it was deep, inviting, and eye-catching all in the same song. Others around me, and myself included were genuinely in awe of how incredible this performance was, and then WHAM, the Orchestra came in, backing him for this incredible whirl of sound hitting you all at once. Afterwards, it was one of those special moments, where the silence lasts a while before the clapping begins- a stunned audience, ready to fully appreciate all of what they actually just heard. Cody came back to stage after, sharing in the sentiment and shouting out his fellow musician for a job well done, and came back to his piano, bringing with him some letters, that he very performatively opened and read, from the perspective of a "child fan of his” in which he used it to talk about different fun point of christmas time, like how NOONE is roasting chestnuts over an open fire, saying that “if you say you have, you’re a liar!” laughingly. He continued these letters every so often, and eventually brought us to the next song.
Throughout the show, Fry was a very vocal performer, interacting with the crowd, telling jokes, and keeping things lively, but this time it was much more personal. He told us a story, about how through the day to day and years of our adult lives, the magic and splendor of the holidays tend to lose their lively a little, and for him, he often wishes he could go back to a special moment from his childhood Christmas. Blown up on the projector of the stage comes a picture of Fry as a child, crying, and hugging his grandma for what he says was the best present ever- Donkey Kong 64. He jokes and says he was shedding actual tears, but back then it really was that special. That moment is precisely what he missed, until about two years ago, where he then showed us a very adorable photo of his daughter looking up at their Christmas tree with delight. Pointing at her, he told us that was where the delight really started to come back to him, seeing it through his daughters eyes, and he proceeded to show us a song he wrote about it called “Photograph”, which took us on much of the same journey about how we all wish we could go back and live in the best moments of our lives. It was a sweet and emotional song, sharing a feeling almost everyone could relate to.
Cody’s set continued that momentum, taking us all (literally all) straight into the lively “Twelve Days of Christmas” in which he, and a couple members of his band went into the crowd with microphones, selecting 12 lucky individuals to proclaim the “Fiiiiiiive Golden Rings!” line every run. It was a lot of fun, looking around seeing who would be selected, and at one point seeing Fry and an audience member right behind me ready to sing. These moments never felt forced, rather, they felt like an artist genuinely enjoying the people in the room with him. Everyone (even those who are not the sing song type) seemed to have a smile on their face and be happier from the show so far. After this (surprisingly long, I did not remember all twelve days here!) Fry made his way back, and took us into a wonderful arrangement of his, combining The Christmas Waltz, and Waltz of the Flowers, which he called “fittingly, The Christmas Waltz of the Flowers”, which did get a chuckle from the audience. Afterwards, he read some more “fan letters”, and invited us to fill out some of our own during intermission, in hopes that he could get us to be a part of the show as well.
Vocally, Cody Fry was flawless. His voice was smooth, velvety, and completely unstrained - the sound of someone who has put in the hours and mastered his craft. Backed by the Minnesota Orchestra, every instrument was crystal clear, thanks to the hall’s impeccable acoustics, and setup. The production value across the board, the lighting, sound, visuals, were all exceptional, especially considering the show came together the same day. Oh yeah did I mention that yet? Perhaps the most unbelievable detail of the evening, Fry shared that this entire orchestral show didn’t exist before that day. Cody arranged the entire performance himself, and the Minnesota Orchestra learned the music the day of the show before performing it that night. That level of musicianship is staggering, and yet it never felt robotic, or overly rehearsed, just professional and clean. As a musician myself, I was floored by the level of artistry shown through the show, especially after learning that.
Sometimes after intermissions at shows, the audience and artist relax, and the level of the start of the show can dip, but not here! Right back into it, blending orchestral grandeur with deeply personal storytelling, one of the most touching moments of the night came with “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,”in which Fry shared that this was his own fathers arrangement of the song. Watching Cody light up as he introduced and performed his father’s work added a layer of intimacy that made the piece feel less like a standard holiday song and more like a family heirloom being shared with the room. I personally couldn’t imagine being Fry and being able to share that level of familial intimacy with a crowd, and how happy it would make me just to share it. What rang true for me for most of the set, and even after as I write this, was that the whole show was filled to the brim with passion. This didn’t feel like a show built for ticket sales or numbers, or to get some more notoriety. It felt like a sincere love letter to music, to family, and to the holidays themselves. And I think it was well received to the crowd.
Afterwards, came arguably the most special part of the whole show. Fry and a Narrator came with letters, ones written by the attendees themselves, and while a cute animated video played on screen sharing with us a children’s story rhyme scheme story about being close during the holidays, the musicians slowly backed it with a wonderful soundscape. Afterwards, Fry sang “What a Wonderful World” while the Narrator placed the letters under a camera to be displayed on the screen- a lot of which shared sweet holiday words to family members and lovers alike. There was even a pregnancy announcement in one, and another that almost made me cry, wishing love to a family member they had lost to cancer and who they wished they could spend another Christmas with. It was all incredibly sweet and heartwarming, and a wonderful reminder that we all love the people we get to share these holidays with.
Fry shared with us a few more songs, like a wonderful full vocal rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful”, but what stood out and was most expected of course was his original song, “Underground”. I was personally excited to hear “Underground” live, but I was floored to hear how incredibly detailed the composition was with a full Orchestra backing him. The sound of the train horns approaching in the distance, and the “ground shaking” like in the song was absolutely amazing to hear and feel live. I’m someone who experiences a lot of frisson, and I of course felt it throughout this show a lot, but here during this song especially. There are few words to describe hearing it live other than once again, incredible.
Wrapping up the night with “I Hear a Symphony”, and sending us all away with well wishes and happy holidays, I looked around the crowd to see how others felt, and like me, they were all joyous and happy, and a few folks were still teary eyed at the end, but not a frown was in sight. Having experienced a wonderful holiday evening, this is a show I’d recommend to families, to orchestra lovers, and to anyone who wants to feel the holidays arrive in the most heartfelt way possible. Cody Fry didn’t just perform music with the Minnesota Orchestra, or give us a few songs to listen to, he created a shared moment, and left the room warmer than when we walked in. If there’s one thing to know going in, it’s that there are sing along moments, which I’m not always one to gravitate towards those, but in this context, surrounded by Christmas music and collective joy, even that felt right. What a wonderful holiday evening!
