When you think of Pink Martini (not the drink), the first thing that comes to mind is the exotic and multi-talented China Forbes, founder and lead singer of the world famous band. Not only is China known for her voluptuous vocal styling, but she also co-wrote with Thomas Lauderdale many of Pink Martini's most beloved songs including "Sympathique", "Lilly", "Clementine", "Let's Never Stop Falling in Love" and "A Snowglobe Christmas." Music at the Court is thrilled to present China in an intimate, one of a kind evening of songs and stories that reveals her expertise with a variety of different musical genres including opera arias, contemporary pop, jazz standards, eclectic international, and of course her own material. Don't miss the opportunity to experience China up close and personal.
This performance begins at 8pm.
China Forbes was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she graduated cum laude from Harvard and was awarded the Jonathan Levy Prize for "the most promising actor at Harvard". She spent two years performing in New York Regional and Off-Off Broadway theatre with future Broadway and TV stars Norm Lewis and Rainn Wilson.
In 1994 she formed her first band, performing original songs in clubs all over downtown Manhattan. She was asked to sing the theme song to the TV show Clueless, and started writing pop songs with Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Gos, Billy Steinberg and Rick Nowells. Her first solo album Love Handle was released in 1995, the same year Harvard classmate Thomas Lauderdale asked her to fly to Portland, Oregon to sing with his new band Pink Martini. After a whirlwind weekend, Thomas asked her back and thus began a new partnership and many frequent flyer miles.
Eventually after the release of Pink Martini's first album, Sympathique, China relocated from NYC to Portland to sing full time with the band. Since then, China has written many of their most beloved songs with Thomas Lauderdale including “Sympathique”, “Lilly”, “Clementine”, “Let’s Never Stop Falling in Love” and most recently "A Snowglobe Christmas" which can be heard on their holiday album Joy to the World. Her original song “Hey Eugene” was the title track of Pink Martini’s third album and many of her songs can also be heard on television and film. In addition to the theme song for Clueless, she sings “Qué Será Será” over the opening and closing credits of Jane Campion’s film In the Cut.
China has performed songs in over 12 languages and has sung duets with Michael Feinstein, Jimmy Scott, Georges Moustaki, Henri Salvador, Saori Yuki, Faith Prince and Carol Channing in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Grand Rex in Paris. While touring the world with Pink Martini, China continued writing her autobiographical songs which culminated in the release of her second solo album ‘78 on Heinz Records in 2008. In the Spring of 2011 it was announced that China would take a temporary leave of absence from Pink Martini to undergo surgery on her vocal chords. Thankfully all went very well and China is now back on stage, loving singing more than ever before. China lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.
