Rita Moreno to Join Pink Martini for 30th Anniversary Concert at Carnegie Hall

Rita Moreno will join Pink Martini in celebrating its 30th anniversary in concert on Friday, November 1 at 8:00 p.m. at Carnegie Hall. Pink Martini performs an irresistible, postmodern amalgam anchored by 20th-century pop and jazz, surprising and delighting audiences with every new tour and recording. This performance will mark Ms. Moreno’s first appearance at Carnegie Hall in more than 20 years.

About the Artists

Rita Moreno

is a true Hollywood and Broadway legend having been honored and recognized for her critically acclaimed performances during her more than 80-year career. She has won all four of the most prestigious awards in show business: an Oscar, a Tony, two Emmys, and a Grammy. Her countless credits span more than eight decades, beginning with her Broadway debut at age 13. In addition, Ms. Moreno has starred on London's West End, appeared in more than 70 feature films, countless television shows, and has performed in numerous regional theaters including her one woman show, Life Without Makeup at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She continues to tour the country appearing at speaking engagements and lectures.

Ms. Moreno currently stars in such films as The Prank, a comedy-horror film that will release in theaters nationwide on March 15 and the Netflix film Family Switch which was released on the platform in December 2023. Recently, she has starred in several blockbuster films, Fast X and 80 for Brady; a holiday movie for Lifetime TV, Santa’s Bootcamp; and hosted the 30th Anniversary Special, Beauty and The Beast on ABC-TV.

She also co-starred and served as an executive producer in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story. Her documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, had its world debut at Sundance Film Festival and then released in theaters nationwide. The film also debuted on TV as part of PBS’ American Masters series and is now streaming on Netflix. Ms. Moreno also appeared in the widely popular Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s classic TV sitcom, One Day At A Time which aired for four seasons.

In 2015, Moreno released her first ever all-Spanish language album, Una Vez Más, produced by good friend, Emilio Estefan. She is also a New York Times bestselling author with her first book, Rita Moreno: A Memoir published by Celebra Books.

Recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honor for her lifetime contributions to American culture, she was also honored by her peers as the 50th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She served as Grand Marshall for both the Rose Parade and National Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Moreno is the recipient Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, the highest civilian award of the United States, and the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons.

Pink Martini

In 1994 in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale was working in local politics, attending every political fundraiser under the sun… but was dismayed to find the music at these events underwhelming and lackluster. 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, Mr. Lauderdale called China Forbes, a Harvard classmate who was living in New York City, and asked her to join Pink Martini as the lead singer and collaborator. 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 is still the band’s number one song. Says Mr. 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 Mr. Lauderdale’s dog), selling over three 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. In 2024, the band is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Pink Martini made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2007. They last appeared at the Hall in December 2012, performing with Steven Reineke and The New York Pops.