The McCoy to Host A SPRING FLING WITH PINK MARTINI FEATURING CHINA FORBES, 3/23

Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world - crossing genres of classical, jazz, and old-fashioned pop - Thomas Lauderdale founded Pink Martini in 1994 to provide more beautiful and inclusive musical soundtracks for political fundraisers for causes such as civil rights, affordable housing, the environment, libraries, public broadcasting, education, and parks. More than 20 years later, Pink Martini still tours the world, singing in 22 languages at opera houses, concert halls, film festivals, museums, and fashion shows. This performance of the biggest little orchestra around will feature lead singer China Forbes.

CAPA presents A Spring Fling with Pink Martini featuring China Forbes at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts (100 W. Dublin-Granville Rd., New Albany) on Wednesday, March 23, at 8 pm. Tickets are $36-$66 at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

About founder Thomas Lauderdale

Thomas Lauderdale was raised in rural Indiana and began piano lessons at age six. When his family moved to Portland in 1982, he began studying with Sylvia Killman, who remains his coach and mentor today. At the age of 14, he made his first appearance with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Norman Leyden.

Active in Oregon politics since he was student body president at Grant High School, 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, 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, and affordable housing.

Now in its 20th year, Pink Martini and Lauderdale are Oregon's "musical ambassadors to the world," performing a multilingual repertoire on concert stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to Royal Albert Hall, and 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.

Lauderdale currently serves on the boards of the Oregon Symphony and Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon.

About vocalist China Forbes

China Forbes was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she graduated cum laude from Harvard and was awarded the Jonathan Levy Prize for acting. She appeared in New York regional theatre and off-off-Broadway productions, earning her Equity card alongside future stars of stage and screen such as Norm Lewis, Peter Jacobson, and Rainn Wilson.

In 1994, she put her first band together and played regularly at NYC clubs CBGB's Gallery, Mercury Lounge, and Brownies. Her first solo album, Love Handle, was released in 1995, and she was also chosen to sing "Ordinary Girl," the theme song to the TV show "Clueless."

At the same time, she was plucked from NYC by Harvard classmate Thomas Lauderdale to sing with Pink Martini, and has since written many of the group's most beloved songs with Lauderdale, including "Sympathique," "Lilly," "Clementine," "Let's Never Stop Falling in Love," "Over the Valley," 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. She sang "Qué Será Será" over the opening and closing credits of Jane Campion's film In the Cut, and her original song "The Northern Line" appears at the end of sister Maya Forbes' directorial debut Infinitely Polar Bear.

With Pink Martini, China 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 has performed songs in more than 12 languages, and has sung duets with Michael Feinstein, Jimmy Scott, Georges Moustaki, Henri Salvador, Saori Yuki, Faith Prince, Carol Channing, and Rufus Wainwright. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Grand Rex in Paris. She released her second solo album,'78, on Heinz Records in 2008, a collection of autobiographical folk-rock songs.