Now in its 31st year, the unstoppable engine of joy that is Pink Martini continues to bring founder Thomas Lauderdale’s mission of multi-cultural connection and inclusion to concert stages on six continents. Presenting a mélange of catchy old-fashioned pop, global color, foot-tapping big band sound, and Hollywood glamour, Oregon’s most famous “little orchestra” performs music intended to appeal to everyone, regardless of age or background. Performing with a number of iconic voices including the band’s first lead singer China Forbes, the inimitable Storm Large, NPR’s dashing Ari Shapiro, the soulful Edna Vazquez, America’s Got Talent finalist Jimmie Herrod, and international singing sensation Meow Meow, the “little orchestra” has played on legendary concert stages around the world, including the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall in London, and Bercy Arena in Paris. Pink Martini has released over a dozen albums on its in-house label Heinz Records, including the new EP Bella ciao, featuring the anti-fascist title song sung by Storm Large.
“This is rich, hugely approachable music, utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious. And it seems to speak to just about everybody … from grade-schoolers to grandmothers to the young and hip and beautiful.”
–The Washington Post
Thomas M. Lauderdale
Raised on a plant nursery in rural Indiana, Pink Martini bandleader Thomas M. Lauderdale began piano lessons at age six with Patricia Garrison. When his family moved to Portland in 1982, he began studying with Sylvia Killman, who served as his coach and mentor until her passing in 2023. Thomas has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Oregon Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Chamber Music Northwest and several collaborations with Oregon Ballet Theatre. In 2008, he played Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Christoph Campestrini. Active in Oregon politics since a student at U.S. Grant High School (where he was student body president), Thomas served under Portland Mayor Bud Clark and Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt. In 1991, he worked under Portland City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury on the drafting and passage of the city’s civil rights ordinance. He graduated with honors from Harvard with a degree in History and Literature in 1992. He spent most of his collegiate years, however, in cocktail dresses, taking on the role of “cruise director” … throwing waltzes with live orchestras and ice sculptures, disco masquerades with gigantic pineapples on wheels, midnight swimming parties, and operating a Tuesday night coffeehouse called Café Mardi. Instead of running for political office, Lauderdale founded Pink Martini in 1994 to play political fundraisers for progressive causes such as civil rights, the environment, affordable housing, and public broadcasting. In addition to marking three decades as bandleader of Pink Martini, Lauderdale has also completed three long awaited collaborations with longtime friends in the last decade. In 2018 he completed Love for Sale, an album of jazz standards with singer/civil rights leader Kathleen Saadat, that began as a gift to a few friends and ended up being a Billboard Jazz charts-ranking album the month it was released. In 2019, Thomas Lauderdale and members of Pink Martini collaborated with the international singing sensation Meow Meow on Hotel Amour. Spring of 2023 saw the release of Thomas Lauderdale Meets the Pilgrim s, his collaboration with Portland’s own surf-rock indie icons, Satan’s Pilgrims that was three decades in the making. Currently, he is collaborating with the iconic Iranian singer Googoosh, on a forthcoming album, and working on new tracks with Pink Martini. On top of being bandleader and pianist for Pink Martini, Lauderdale currently serves on the boards of the Oregon Symphony, Pioneer Courthouse Square, and the Confluence Project with Maya Lin. He lives in Portland with his partner Hunter Noack.
Ari Shapiro
One of the most recognized and trusted voices in the United States, Ari Shapiro has spent a decade as host of NPR’s flagship evening news program All Things Considered and the podcast Consider This. He has reported from above the Arctic Circle and aboard Air Force One. He has been a question on Jeopardy and an answer in the New York Times crossword puzzle. Among his many journalism accolades, he has won three national Edward R. Murrow Awards, the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, and was named Journalist of the Year by NLGJA, the association of LGBTQ+ journalists. His debut memoir, The Best Strangers in the World: Stories From a Life Spent Listening , was an instant New York Times bestseller. He also hosts the reality competition show, The Mole, on Netflix. His 12-part course for Wondrium, “The Power of Storytelling,” received a Gold Telly Award. As a performer, he has been a frequent guest singer with Pink Martini since making his debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 2009. He has performed with the band in some of the world’s most storied venues and recorded songs in a variety of languages. He also tours the country with the actor Alan Cumming in their two-man show, Och and Oy: A Considered Cabaret, as well as with his own original solo show, Thank You For Listening: An Evening of Songs and Stories. Ari was born in Fargo, North Dakota and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Washington, DC, with his husband and two dogs.
Edna Vazquez
Edna Vazquez is a fearless singer, songwriter, composer, and guitarist whose powerful voice and musical talent transcend the boundaries of language to engage and uplift her audience. She is a creative musical artist with a vocal range that allows her to paint seamlessly with her original material, an intersection of Mexican Tradicional, rock, pop and other genres. Edna’s passion for music and performance grew from her bicultural roots and, with songs deeply rooted in universal human emotion, she has traveled far and wide spreading her message of light, love and cultural healing. Vazquez has grown as a musical artist and collaborator over the last years, touring all over the world since 2017 with the acclaimed “little orchestra” Pink Martini, while still performing as a solo artist as well. In the past, she led her own band projects, the Edna Vazquez Quartet, the rock band No Passengers , and the latest, the Edna Vazquez Band . Vazquez also participated in the Latin Grammys with the all-female mariachi fusion band from New York City, Latin Grammy 2017 winners, Flor de Toloache and accompanying Natalia Lafourcade that night. In 2022, as a soloist, Vazquez participated in two great events, one in Canto en Resistencia (Power to the People! ) with the LA Philharmonic, with Davendra Banhardt, Ile, Silvana Estrada, Rodrigo Amarante, Jorge Glem, and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. She also appeared at The Hollywood Bowl with the acclaimed pianist Lang Lang and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performing DESTINO (1946), a film collaboration between Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney. With Pink Martini, Edna Vazquez has performed with major Symphonies and in legendary concert venues all over the world, including London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and many more. In 2017, Vazquez released an EP album with Pink Martini entitled “Besame Mucho” and featuring her original single “Sola Soy.” And in the Summer of 2025, Edna Vazquez released her new album “Te Esperaba,” a collection of mostly original compositions based in traditional Northern Mexican styles like Banda and Norteño, and also in traditional Mariachi. Edna is proud to continue to venture into these traditionally male-dominated genres with her powerful interpretive voice.
Jimmie Herrod
Since late 2017 Herrod has been touring with Pink Martini across the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Europe. Outside of performing arts centers and jazz clubs, Herrod is regularly featured with major orchestras across the US, and has shared the stage with artists such as Lalah Hathaway, Brian Blade, Vince Mendoza, Renee Fleming, and many more. With “a voice like a beacon of hope” (Seattle Times), vocalist Jimmie Herrod brings singular power and expressivity to his globe-trotting career as a singer, songwriter, and entertainer on stage and screen. Herrod first came to worldwide prominence as a finalist on the NBC nationally broadcast television show, “America’s Got Talent,” earning the rare “Golden Buzzer” recognition from actress Sofia Vargara and returning the following year on the AGT All-Stars series.
