Pink Martini Returns To Toronto For Gala Fundraising Event Concert 6/19

The fabulous Pink Martini, "beautiful and sophisticated," as declared by The New Yorker, returns to Toronto after a highly successful debut on March of 2008. This concert also marks the annual gala fundraising event for The Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall. The event includes a fantastic dinner, concert ticket, and cocktail reception. The proceeds from this event support both the community outreach and Share the Music program for Toronto's underserved children and youth. Gala tickets at $750 each, for which a tax receipt will be issued for the maximum permissible amount. Corporate tables of ten are $7500.

In writing about the group's last appearance in March, the Toronto Star wrote, "Pink Martini represents all that Toronto aspires to - sophistication, cosmopolitanism, and a type of delight that sometimes involves dressing up and carousing...with its heterogeneous tastes and facility in languages, the pop orchestra might have sprung from our own diverse metropolis, but hails instead from Portland, Oregon." And the National Post wrote, "Like the cocktail they're named after, Pink Martini packs a punch when you get past the frothy sweetness...It's music to dress up for, in heels and pearls; music that gets the ballroom buzzing."

The Portland, Oregon-based "little orchestra" was founded in 1994 by Lauderdale, a Harvard graduate and classically trained pianist, to perform at political fundraisers for progressive causes such as civil rights, the environment, affordable housing and public broadcasting. In the years following, Pink Martini grew from four musicians to its current twelve, and has gone on to perform its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Canada and the United States. In the US, the band has performed with such symphony orchestras as the Boston Pops, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and special engagements have included the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's new Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall; the opening party of the New York Museum of Modern Art; and the 100th birthday celebration for the William Morris Agency with soul legend Al Green.

"Pink Martini is like a romantic Hollywood musical of the 1940s or ‘50s - but with a global perspective which is modern," says founder and artistic director Thomas M. Lauderdale. "We bring melodies and rhythms from different parts of the world together to create something which is new and beautiful. All band members have studied different languages and music from different parts of the world, so because everyone in the band contributes in the writing and arranging of songs, the 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 are suddenly in a French music hall of the 1930s or in a palazzo in Napoli. It's like an urban musical travelogue," says Lauderdale. Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, was released in 1997 on the band's own label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale's dog) and quickly became an international phenomenon, garnering the group nominations for "Song of the Year" and "Best New Artist" in France's Victoires de la Musique Awards. Seven long years later the high-anticipated follow-up, Hang on Little Tomato, was released and climbed to #1 on Amazon.com's best sellers list. A new CD is in the works (details to come before the June concert date), but until then, Pink Martini's last album was Hey Eugene!, released in May 2007. This recording is a twelve-track sonic journey that travels the globe with uplifting songs of hope and beauty. The title track "Hey Eugene," an audience favourite for years, is delivered with sultry grace by lead singer China Forbes, who wrote the song about a guy she met at a party who asked for her number but never called.

Friday, June 19, 2009 at 8 pm / Roy Thomson Hall
60 Simcoe Street, Toronto
Tickets $69.50-$49.50 - Call 416-872-4255 or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office
For gala tickets, please call 416 593 5822 x 322
www.roythomson.com

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