Thomas Lauderdale

Thomas Mack Lauderdale (born July 14, 1970) is an American musician and pianist, largely known for his work with his Portland-based band Pink Martini. Thomas Mack Lauderdale was born in 1970 in Oakland, California, and adopted by Kerby Roy and Linda Sue, née Mikesell. In 1972, the family moved to Indiana, where his father was pastor at Eel River Church of the Brethren.

After church services, Lauderdale usually went to the piano, and tried to replicate the hymns he heard. His parents bought for him an upright piano at an auction and so he began his formal musical studies at age six with Patricia Garrison of North Manchester, Indiana and later, Joyanne Jones at Indiana University/Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In 1976, his father resigned from the ministry and the Lauderdale family opened a plant nursery near North Manchester. The family moved to Portland, Oregon in 1982, after his parents divorced and his father came out of the closet. In the 1990s, his parents went on several talk shows – including 20/20, Oprah, Jane Whitney, and Christina - to talk about what happens when a spouse comes out.

Kerby returned to the ministry, and is the first openly gay pastor in his denomination. He performed the service when his former wife Linda remarried in 2000. In Portland, Oregon Lauderdale began his studies with Sylvia Killman in 1982. Killman and Lauderdale remain close friends. Lauderdale won the "Oregon Symphony's annual Corbett Competition" in 1985, marking the beginning of a long association with conductor Norman Leyden.

He graduated from Portland's "Ulysses S. Grant" High School in 1988, where he was student body president and editor of The Grantonian. Lauderdale studied at Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in History and Literature. After seeing the Del Rubio Triplets on Pee-Wee Herman's Christmas Special, Lauderdale arranged for them to travel to Portland, Oregon in October 1994 to give a series of concerts at retirement homes, nursing homes, and hospitals.

After a week of performances and appearances, the Del Rubio Triplets performed at a fundraising concert at Cinema 21 in Northwest Portland. Stuck for an opening act for the group, Lauderdale threw on a Betsey Johnson cocktail dress, and joined by a bass player, a bongo player, and a singer, took to the stage as Pink Martini. Pink Martini's first concerts were often politically motivated, with performances at events for progressive causes such as the environment, affordable housing, civil rights, libraries, and public broadcasting.

The band remains committed to its progressive and political roots. FundFest is a biennial four-day concert series produced by the band to raise money and visibility for four different organizations. Past recipients include Reach Community Development, Oregon Public Broadcasting, the ALS Association of Oregon and SW Washington, Children's Cancer Association, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Friends of Trees, and KBOO Community Radio.

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