Pink Martini Returns to Symphony Center for Spring Fling Concert Featuring China Forbes
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Contacts: March 14, 2016 Eileen Chambers/CSO 312.294.3092 MaryJane Maharry/Brava PR 773.490.6046 Photos Available By Request [email protected] PINK MARTINI RETURNS TO SYMPHONY CENTER FOR SPRING FLING CONCERT FEATURING CHINA FORBES Popular Ensemble’s Globally-Inspired Evening of Music Takes Audiences from Cabarets to Clubs to Concert Halls Friday, March 25, at 8:00 PM CHICAGO — Pink Martini with lead singer China Forbes returns to Symphony Center in a Special Concert on Friday, March 25 at 8:00 p.m. The group’s signature cocktail of crowd- pleasing classical, pop and jazz arrangements by founder, bandleader, and pianist Thomas Lauderdale highlight the witty and elegant vocals of lead singer China Forbes alongside the eclectic instrumentals of this one-of-a-kind, 11-piece ensemble. The Chicago appearance of Pink Martini features some of the songs that have endeared the group to fans across the globe including “Sympathique,” “Amado Mio” and “Brasil.” The evening also introduces the audience to new Pink Martini songs including “Ov Sirun Sirun” and “Joli Garcon”, which Lauderdale created for a French/Belgian film starring Isabelle Huppert due out in late 2016. Lauderdale founded Pink Martini in 1994 and draws musical inspiration for the group’s vocal and instrumental selections from around the world, crossing the genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop. Now more than twenty years later, Pink Martini and Lauderdale perform in 22 languages on concert stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to Royal Albert Hall, and have appeared with more than 50 symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. The band has released nine albums on its own label Heinz Records, most recently Dream a Little Dream, a collaboration with The von Trapps. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. Forbes has enjoyed a successful singing career both as a solo artist and with Pink Martini. She and Lauderdale have written many of Pink Martini’s most beloved songs including “Sympathique,” with its famous chorus (“I don’t want to work”), “Clementine,” “Let’s Never Stop Falling in Love,” and most recently "A Snowglobe Christmas". Her original song “Hey Eugene” is the title track of Pink Martini’s third album and many of her songs can also be heard on television and film. With Pink Martini, Forbes has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Later with Jools Holland. She performs songs in more than 12 languages and has performed with Michael Feinstein, Jimmy Scott, Georges Moustaki, Henri Salvador, Saori Yuki, Faith Prince, Carol Channing and Rufus Wainwright. Tickets for all CSOA-presented concerts can be purchased by phone at 800-223-7114 or 312- 294-3000; online at cso.org, or at the Symphony Center box office: 220 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604. For group rates, please call 312-294-3040. Artists, programs and prices are subject to change. # # # Symphony Center Presents Friday, March 25, 2016, 8:00 p.m. Special Concert Pink Martini Thomas M. Lauderdale, piano China Forbes, vocals Gavin Bondy, trumpet Robert Taylor, trombone Nicholas Crosa, violin Pansy Chang, cello Phil Baker, upright bass Dan Faehnle, guitar Timothy Nishimoto, vocals and percussion Brian Davis, congas and percussion Miguel Bernal, congas and percussion Brent Follis, drums and percussion Kyle Mustain, English horn Tickets: $40-$85 Pink Martini Fifteen years ago in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale, while drawing inspiration from music from all over the world—crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop—founded the “little orchestra” now known as Pink Martini. Lauderdale met China Forbes, lead vocalist, at Harvard. They began to write songs together in 1994. 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. Pink Martini has 12 musicians (and sometimes travels with string sections), and performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand and North America. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden. Since then, the band has gone on to play with over 25 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 and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. Other appearances include the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall; two sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall; the Governor’s Ball at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008; and the opening of the 2008 Sydney Festival in Australia. The band has collaborated and performed with Jimmy Scott, Carol Channing, Henri Salvador, Jane Powell, Chavela Vargas, Georges Moustaki, Michael Feinstein, DJ Dimitri from Paris, clarinetist and conductor Norman Leyden, Hiroshi Wada and DJ Johnny. Pink Martini’s debut album, Sympathique, was released independently in 1997 on the band’s own label Heinz Records. Pink Martini released Hang On Little Tomato in 2004 and Hey Eugene! in 2007. All three albums have gone gold in France, Canada, Greece and Turkey, and have sold more than two million copies worldwide. In partnership with Public Broadcasting, the band also filmed and released a concert DVD entitled DiscoverThe World. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra: www.cso.org and www.csosoundsandstories.org Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Since 2010, the preeminent conductor Riccardo Muti has served as its 10th music director. Yo-Yo Ma is the CSO’s Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, and Samuel Adams and Elizabeth Ogonek are its Mead Composers-in-Residence. From baroque through contemporary music, the CSO commands a vast repertoire. Its renowned musicians annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in Chicago and, each summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. They regularly tour nationally and internationally. Since 1892, the CSO has made 58 international tours, performing in 29 countries on five continents. People around the globe listen to weekly radio broadcasts of CSO concerts and recordings on the WFMT radio network and online at cso.org/radio. Recordings by the CSO have earned 62 Grammy Awards, including two in 2011 for Muti’s recording with the CSO and Chorus of Verdi's Messa da Requiem (Muti’s first of four releases with the CSO to date). Find details on these and many other CSO recordings at www.cso.org/resound. The CSO is part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, which also includes the Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, Director and Conductor) and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a training ensemble for emerging professionals. Through its prestigious Symphony Center Presents series, the CSOA presents guest artists and ensembles from a variety of genres—classical, jazz, world, and contemporary. The Negaunee Music Institute at the CSO offers community and education programs that annually engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Through the Institute and other activities, including a free annual concert with Muti and the CSO, the CSO is committed to using the power of music to create connections and build community. The CSO is supported by thousands of patrons, volunteers and institutional and individual donors. Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO. The CSO’s music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. The Negaunee Foundation provides generous support in perpetuity for the work of the Negaunee Music Institute. .