| Thomas M. Lauderdale | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 14, 1970 |
| Origin | American |
| Years active | 1982 to present |
| Associated acts | Pink Martini |
| Website | Pink Martini website |
| Notable instruments | |
| Piano | |
Thomas Mack Lauderdale (Born July 14, 1970 in Oakland, California) is a musician, largely known for his work with the Portland-based band Pink Martini.
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Lauderdale was adopted by Kerby Roy and Linda Sue (Mikesell) Lauderdale. In 1972, the family moved to Indiana, where his father was pastor at Eel River Church of the Brethren. After church services, Lauderdale would go to the piano, and try to replicate the hymns he heard. His parents bought an upright piano at an auction and he began his formal musical studies at age six with Patricia Garrison of North Manchester, Indiana and later, Joyanne Jones at Indiana University/Purdue University in Fort Wayne.
In 1976, his father resigned from the ministry and the Lauderdale family opened a plant nursery near North Manchester. The family moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1980, after his parents divorced and his father came out of the closet. In the 1990s, his parents went on several talk shows – including 20/20, Oprah, Jane Whitney, and Christina, to talk about what happens when a spouse comes out. Kerby returned to the ministry, and is the first openly gay pastor in his denomination. He performed the service when his former wife Linda remarried in 2000.
In Portland, Oregon, Lauderdale began his studies with Sylvia Killman in 1982. Killman and Lauderdale remain close. Lauderdale won the Oregon Symphony's annual Corbett Competition in 1985, marking the beginning of a long association with conductor Norman Leyden. He graduated from Portland's Ulysses S. Grant High School in 1988, where he was student body president and editorial editor of The Grantonian. Lauderdale studied at Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in History and Literature.[1] He spent most of his time in college in cocktail dresses, throwing waltzes with live orchestras and ice sculptures; disco masquerades with gigantic pineapples on wheels; nude midnight swimming parties in the Adams House swimming pool; and operating a Tuesday night coffeehouse called Café Mardi.[2]
After seeing the Del Rubio Triplets on Pee-Wee Herman's Christmas Special, Lauderdale flew them to Portland in October 1994 to do a series of concerts at retirement homes, nursing homes, and hospitals. After a week of performances and appearances, the Del Rubio Triplets performed at a fundraising concert at Cinema 21 in Northwest Portland. Stuck for an opening act for the group, Lauderdale threw on a Betsey Johnson cocktail dress, and joined by a bass player, a bongo player, and a singer, took to the stage as Pink Martini.
Pink Martini's first concerts were often politically motivated, with performances at events for progressive causes such as the environment, affordable housing, civil rights, libraries, and public broadcasting.[3] The band remains committed to its progressive and political roots. FundFest is a biennial four-day concert series produced by the band to raise money and visibility for four different organizations. Past recipients include Reach Community Development, Oregon Public Broadcasting, the ALS Association of Oregon and SW Washington, Children's Cancer Association, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Friends of Trees, and KBOO Community Radio.
Pink Martini has grown from four musicians to its current twelve. Singer China Forbes – who Lauderdale met at college – joined the band in 1995. The band has performed its multi-lingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Tunisia, Australia, Canada and the United States. In 1998, the ensemble made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Norman Leyden. Pink Martini has since performed with over 25 symphony orchestras around the world including the Boston Pops, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Orchestra, and with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Other appearances include the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's new Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, with return sold-out engagements for New Year's Eve 2003 and 2004; the opening party of the New York Museum of Modern Art; Wolf Trap in Washington; and Carnegie Hall in June 2007. Recent collaborations include performances and recordings with Jimmy Scott, Henri Salvador, Jane Powell, Georges Moustaki, DJ Dimitri from Paris, Michael Feinstein, Alba Clemente, DJ Johnny Dynell, March 4 Marching Band, Carol Channing and several drag queens from New York City.
Pink Martini has released four studio albums on the band's own record label, Heinz Records and partnered with other labels worldwide, including Naïve Records in France, Wrasse Records in the United Kingdom and South America, Audiogram in Canada, Urtext in Mexico, Random Records in Argentina and Chile, Inertia Recordings in Australia and New Zealand, Ales in Korea, and Top 2 in Southeast Asia. The band's debut album Sympathique was released in 1997, and received nominations for "Song of the Year" and "Best New Artist" in France's Victoires de la Musique awards. Sympathique, Hang on Little Tomato (2004), and Hey Eugene! (2007) have gone gold in France, Turkey, Greece, and Canada.
Pink Martini released their fourth album, Splendor In The Grass, October 27, 2009. In May 2009, the band recorded a live album with the Oregon Symphony in Portland under the direction of Carlos Kalmar. In September 2009 – in conjunction with the sesqui-centennial celebration of the state of Oregon – the band collaborated with Stan Freberg, writing and performing an updated version of Oregon! Oregon! A Centennial Fable – a 30-minute musical comedy about the state of Oregon originally commissioned in 1959 by the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company to celebrate the state's centennial.
In addition to his work with the band, Lauderdale collaborates with singer Meow Meow, the surf band Satan's Pilgrims, Sneakin' Out, and writer Tom Spanbauer. In Spring 2008, Lauderdale completed his first film score for Chiara Clemente's documentary Our City Dreams, a portrait of five New York City-based women artists of different generations. In April 2008, Lauderdale performed as the featured piano soloist in Ludwig von Beethoven's Choral Fantasia with the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland and the University of Portland Singers under the direction of Roger Doyle. In November 2008, he played George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F with the Oregon Symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland under the direction of Christoph Campestrini.[4]
He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras and ensembles, including the Oregon Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Portland Youth Philharmonic, Chamber Music Northwest, the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland and Oregon Ballet Theatre (where he collaborated with choreographer James Canfield and visual artists Storm Tharp and Malia Jensen on a ballet based on the original story of Bambi, written by Felix Salten in 1923).
Beginning in high school, Lauderdale became interested in politics. He worked in Portland City Hall, first under Mayor J.E. "Bud" Clark in the office of international relations, and later under City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury on the city's civil rights ordinance. He was appointed by Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee; by Mayor Clark to the Metropolitan Youth Commission and by City Commissioner Mike Lindberg to the Public Safety in the Parks Task Force. In 1992, he was involved in the No on 9 and No on 13 Campaigns, in response to measures that would amend the Oregon constitution to declare homosexuality illegal.
Lauderdale lives in Portland, Oregon, with his domestic partner, Philip Iosca.
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