|
Friday, June 19 at 8 PM
$69.50 - $49.50
Call 416-872-4255 or online at
www.roythomson.com
or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office
Gala tickets: single, $750; table of 10, $7500
Call 416 593 4822 x 322
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.
Sponsored by Scotiabank Group.
|
|
