“If the United Nations had a house band in 1962, then hopefully we’d be that band.”
–Thomas Lauderdale (Pink Martini)

Take a splash of classical chamber music, an ounce of Brazilian marching band, a dash of cabaret and lounge, mix in some neo-swing sound, shake fearlessly and pour … there you have Pink Martini.
Like a romantic Hollywood musical of a bygone era, Civil Society & Chugg Entertainment are thrilled to announce the return of Pink Martini to Australia in October.
The tour begins in Sydney when Pink Martini take the stage at the State Theatre on Friday 1st October, and headline the Great Southern Blues Festival on Sunday 3rd October in Batemans Bay, before heading south to Melbourne where they will perform with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday 5th October at the Regent Theatre. The tour then heads west to Adelaide’s Festival Theatre on Wednesday 6th October, before heading east again to Queensland for their appearance at the Caloundra Music Festival on Sunday 10th October.
Somewhere between 1930s jazz and a jump blues band with some world music thrown in for good measure, Pink Martini defy definition with their genre-bending and playful melee that harks back to a golden age of times passed, whilst still being joyfully cosmopolitan and modern.

15 years ago in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, leader, pianist and music director, Thomas Lauderdale was working in politics, thinking that one day he would run for mayor. Attending numerous political fundraisers he 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.
Soon after, Lauderdale called on China Forbes, Pink Martini’s Diva Next Door lead vocalist whom he’d met at Harvard University, and asked her to join Pink Martini. What began as an undergraduate friendship singing Verdi, Puccini and Barbra Streisand numbers around the piano when they should have been studying, quickly turned into a creative collaboration of epic proportions. They began to write songs together for Pink Martini’s first album, ‘Sympathique’. Soon after the title track became an overnight sensation in France— and was nominated for “Song of the Year” at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards in 2000.

Pink Martini have since gone on to release three more critically acclaimed albums—’Hang On Little Tomato’ (2004), ‘Hey Eugene!’ (2007) and most recently ‘Splendor In The Grass’ (2009). ‘Splendor In Grass’ is their most ambitious album yet and features guest stars like The Dandy Warhol‘s Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Mexican ranchera singer (and lover of artist Frida Kahlo) Chavela Vargas and Seseme Street’s Emilio Delgado (“Luis”).

In their welcome return to Australian shores, Pink Martini is set to captivate audiences once again. Don’t miss your chance to see this enigmatic force take the stage.