Pink Martini All-Stars

Now in its 31st year, the unstoppable engine of joy that is Pink Martini continues to bring founder Thomas Lauderdale’s mission of multicultural connection and inclusion to concert stages on six continents. Raised on a plant nursery in rural Indiana, Lauderdale began piano lessons at age six, and instead of running for political office as originally planned, founded Pink Martini in Portland, Oregon in 1994 to play political fundraisers for progressive causes like civil rights and affordable housing, finding the music at most fundraisers loud and boring. Lauderdale met co-founder China Forbes as freshmen at Harvard, and together they crafted the band’s blend of classical, traditional pop, Latin, and jazz sung across more than 25 languages. Their first collaborative song, Sympathique, with its chorus Je ne veux pas travailler, became an overnight sensation in France and was nominated for Song of the Year at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards. This All-Stars presentation brings together a number of the band’s iconic voices, including Forbes, the inimitable Storm Large, NPR’s Ari Shapiro, the soulful Edna Vazquez, America’s Got Talent finalist Jimmie Herrod, and international sensation Meow Meow, delivering a mélange of catchy old-fashioned pop, global color, and Hollywood glamour that has carried the little orchestra to stages including the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall.