Pink Martini
Friday, January 30, 2026
Doors 6:30 p.m. | Show 7:30 p.m.
Tickets start at $53 (incl. fees)
Upper Balcony $53
Balcony $63
Loge $78
Main Floor $98
This show is included in 2025-2026 full season tickets and half season package B. No dinner service at this show. Concessions and the bars will be open. All Ages. Bars for 21+. THANK YOU to our generous show sponsors Robert Gelder & Bryan Johnson, Will & Karen Maupin, Ann Vogel & Keith Palmer, and Carolyn & Steve Roll!
In 1994 in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Lauderdale was working in local politics, attending every political fundraiser under the sun… but was dismayed to find the music at these events underwhelming and lackluster. Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world – crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop – and hoping to appeal to conservatives and liberals alike, he founded the “little orchestra” 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.
One year later, Lauderdale called China Forbes, a Harvard classmate who was living in New York City, and asked her to join Pink Martini as the lead singer, and collaborator. Their first song “Sympathique (Je ne veux pas travailler)” became an overnight sensation in France, was nominated for “Song of the Year” at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards, and is still the band’s number one song. Says Lauderdale, “We’re very much an American band, but we spend a lot of time abroad and therefore have the incredible diplomatic opportunity to represent a broader, more inclusive America… the America which remains the most heterogeneously populated country in the world… composed of people of every country, every language, every religion.”
Featuring a dozen musicians, with songs in 25 languages, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages on six continents. After making it’s European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998, the band has gone on to play with more than 50 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, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London. In 2014, Pink Martini was inducted into both the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
Pink Martini has released 11 studio albums on its own independent label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale’s dog), selling over 3 million albums worldwide. In 2019, the band released two EPs featuring the vocals of Pink Martini’s newest members Jimmie Herrod and Edna Vazquez. Both vocalists have toured with the band for the past year and are officially part of the group with the release of Herrod’s EP Tomorrow and Vaquez’s Besame Mucho, both of which were co-produced by Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes. In 2024 the band is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary.
-------
Thank you to all of our 2025-2026 season, series and show sponsors!
Sponsorships available. For details, contact Development Director Nita Hartley at 360.932.3051 or nita@admiraltheatre.org
Season Sponsors:
Cascade PBS
GEICO Local Office - Kevin & Janice Krieger
Kitsap Bank
West Hills Auto Plex
Generous Show Sponsors:
Robert Gelder & Bryan Johnson
Will & Karen Maupin
Ann Vogel & Keith Palmer
Carolyn & Steve Roll