A20 2013 Program Notes, Book 1
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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 progressive causes such as civil rights, affordable housing,
the environment, libraries, public broadcasting, education and parks. After three
years and a cast of different singers, Lauderdale called China Forbes, an old Harvard
classmate who was living in New York City, and asked her to join Pink Martini. Singer
Storm Large began performing with Pink Martini in March 2011.
The band began to write songs together, and their first song — Sympathique, with
the chorus “Je ne veux pas travailler” (“I don’t want to work”) — became an overnight
sensation in France, and was even nominated for Song of the Year at France’s Victoires
de la Musique Awards. “All of us in Pink Martini have studied different languages as
well as different styles of music from different parts of the world,” says Lauderdale.
“
So inevitably, our repertoire is wildly diverse. At one moment, you feel like you’re in
the middle of a samba parade in Rio de Janeiro, and in the next moment, you’re in a
French music hall of the 1930s or a palazzo in Napoli. It’s a bit like an urban musical
travelogue. 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.”
Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with
symphony orchestras around the world. They made their orchestral debut with the
Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden. Since then, the band
has gone on to play with more than 25 orchestras around the world and has appeared
at the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Frank Gehry-designed Walt
Disney Concert Hall; two sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall; the opening party of
the remodeled Museum of Modern Art in New York City; and the Governor’s Ball at
the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008. Pink Martini’s debut album, Sympathique,
was released independently in 1997 on the band’s own Heinz Records label (named
after Lauderdale’s dog), followed by Hang On Little Tomato in 2004, Hey Eugene! in
2007
and Splendor in the Grass in 2009. In 2011 the band released A Retrospective, a
collection of the most beloved songs spanning their sixteen-year career. Pink Martini
first appeared at the Grant Park Music Festival in 2010.
