Perhaps Portland’s best known musical export today is Pink Martini, a multi-cultural, genre-defying mini-orchestra that spends as much (if not more) time touring clubs and concert halls around the world as it does in its home town.  The group was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where pianist and leader Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes met as students at Harvard University.  The pair shared diverse musical tastes and a love of many cultures, and as the band grew, its membership (the group currently has twelve regular members) reflected this eclecticism.

Pink Martini draws its inspiration and repertoire from across the globe, based on an inclusive and progressive philosophy of the world and our place therein.  The band has collaborated with the Oregon and Boston Symphony Orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and most recently the 234th Army Band of the Oregon National Guard in Oregon! Oregon!, a 4-act “fable” celebrating the state’s 150th anniversary.  Perhaps the best testament to the group’s international appeal is the fact that in 2007 Srgjan Kerim, President of the U.N. General Assembly, purchased 30 copies of a recent album to be given as gifts during his first official meeting.