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Rachel Kushner
July 7thKhumariyaan Welcome Party
July 7thKhumariyaan
July 8thKhumariyaan
July 9thKhumariyaan
July 10thTelmary
July 12thAlly Venable
July 15thFlor de Toloache
July 16thFlor de Toloache
July 17thAndrea Magee's She Rises
July 18thOscar Butler
July 23rdCelloquacious and Eli del Puerto
July 24thInnastate
July 26thCelloquacious & Eli del Puerto
July 27thGreen Tara Puja
July 29thArkansauce
August 1stMark Hummel
August 2ndMark Hummel
August 3rdLuke Bulla
August 7thLuke Bulla
August 9th7Horse
August 9thRaul Midón
August 13thRaul Midón
August 14thThe WesternHers
August 23rdLevi Platero | Chris Dracup :Funk of the West
August 23rdThievery Corporation
September 3rdDevon Allman's Blues Summit
September 9thTab Benoit
September 9thTab Benoit
September 10thCoco Montoya
September 19thCoco Montoya
September 20thAlasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
September 24thAlasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
September 25thJ2B2
September 26thJohn Moreland
September 26thSlim Cessna + Maria de Cessna
October 4thShonen Knife
October 11th"Stop Making Sense" Screening
October 12th"Stop Making Sense" Screening
October 13thHayden Pedigo
October 22ndKurbasy
November 8thKurbasy
November 9thThe Bébé La La 15-Year Anniversary Concert & Celebration
November 15thLuca Stricagnoli
November 21stRyanhood
November 29thRyanhood
November 30thPink Martini - SOLD OUT!
featuring China Forbes
at
The Lensic
Add to Cal
Tickets cost $65, $75 and $85 (plus applicable service charges). They are also available from the Lensic Box Office (505-988-1234).
"Pink Martini is a rollicking around-the-world musical adventure... if the United Nations had a house band in 1962, hopefully we'd be that band."
—Thomas Lauderdale, bandleader/pianist
In 1994 in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale was working in politics, thinking that one day he would run for mayor. Like other eager politicians-in-training, he went to every political fundraiser under the sun... but was dismayed to find the music at these events underwhelming, lackluster, loud and un-neighborly. Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world—crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop—and hoping to appeal to conservatives and liberals alike, he founded the "little orchestra" Pink Martini in 1994 to provide more beautiful and inclusive musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for causes such as civil rights, affordable housing, the environment, libraries, public broadcasting, education and parks.
One year later, Lauderdale called China Forbes, a Harvard classmate who was living in New York City, and asked her to join Pink Martini. They began to write songs together. Their first song "Sympathique (Je ne veux pas travailler)" became an overnight sensation in France, was nominated for "Song of the Year" at France's Victoires de la Musique Awards, and to this day remains a mantra ("Je ne veux pas travailler" or "I don't want to work") for striking French workers. Says Lauderdale, "We're very much an American band, but we spend a lot of time abroad and therefore have the incredible diplomatic opportunity to represent a broader, more inclusive America... the America which remains the most heterogeneously populated country in the world... composed of people of every country, every language, every religion."
Featuring a dozen musicians, with songs in 25 languages, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages on six continents. After making its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998, the band has gone on to play with more than 50 orchestras around the world, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
Pink Martini has released 11 studio albums on its own independent label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale's dog), selling over 3 million albums worldwide. In 2019, the band released two EPs featuring the vocals of Pink Martini's newest members Jimmie Herrod and Edna Vazquez. Both vocalists have toured with the band for the past year and are officially part of the group with the release of Herrod's EP Tomorrow and Vaquez's Besame Mucho, both of which were co-produced by Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes.