Kauffman Center Presents Pink Martini Featuring China Forbes
And Asleep at the Wheel This Fall

Featuring a dozen musicians, with songs in 25 languages, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages on six continents. After making its 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.

Drawing inspiration from music from all over the world and crossing genres of classical, jazz and old-fashioned pop,  Thomas Lauderdale founded the “little orchestra” Pink Martini in 1994 to provide more beautiful and inclusive musical soundtracks around issues of social change.

One year later, Lauderdale called China Forbes, a Harvard classmate who was living in New York City, and asked her to join the band. 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 over 20 languages and has sung duets with Rufus Wainwright, Michael Feinstein, Carol Channing and many others. 

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.

“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,” says Thomas Lauderdale.  

Tickets for Pink Martini featuring China Forbes range from $39 to $79 plus applicable fees. Tickets are available through the Kauffman Center Box Office at (816) 994-7222 or online at kauffmancenter.org.   

On Oct. 30, 2021, Asleep at the Wheel takes the Muriel Kauffman Theater stage for the evening. Inspired by Western swing and honky-tonk country, the band has accrued 10 Grammy Awards. 

Founded in 1970 by Ray Benson, Asleep at the Wheel has been part of the American roots music landscape for more than 50 years. Although the band got its start on a farm in Paw Paw, West Virginia, Asleep at the Wheel became a cornerstone of the Austin, Texas, scene upon its arrival in 1973.

This fall, a career retrospective recorded with the current lineup and a few special guests, will carry the band back onto the road, where they’ve remained a staple for five decades.

Fifty years in,  some of its members and audiences represent a new generation. That far-reaching appeal remains a testament to Benson’s initial vision.

“How do you keep this music going?” Benson asks. “Well, you’ve got to have some young people. If young people aren’t doing this, then we’re just a museum – and I don’t want to be a museum.”

Tickets for Asleep at the Wheel range from $39 to $59 plus applicable fees. Tickets are available through the Kauffman Center Box Office at (816) 994-7222 or online at kauffmancenter.org.  

Follow the Kauffman Center on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get details about upcoming performances and behind-the-scenes access.

Must-See Kauffman Center Presents Events

Classical-meets-hip-hop duo, Black Violin, returns to Muriel Kauffman Theatre for their Impossible Tour on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. 

Black Violin is led by classically trained string players Wil Baptiste (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin). The band uses their unique blend of classical and hip-hop music, often described as “classical boom,” to overcome stereotypes and encourage people of all ages, races and economic backgrounds to join together to break down cultural barriers.  

For 16 years, Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste have been merging string arrangements with modern beats and vocals. The two were classically trained on the violin and viola through their high school and college careers. Post-college, they reconvened to produce beats for South Florida rappers, and began building an audience in local clubs. They later went on to win Showtime at the Apollo in 2005 and eventually sold-out headline performances at venues across the country, including a sold out two-night headline run at The Kennedy Center in 2018.  

Black Violin continues to inspire youth through their nonprofit organization The Black Violin Foundation. The organization is dedicated to empowering youth by working with them in their communities to provide access to quality music programs that encourage creativity. Each year the foundation’s inaugural program provides scholarships and grants to youth who would like to continue their musical education through a program of their liking that fosters musical creativity and innovation. Black Violin has spent the last year finding creative ways to share their music with fans during the pandemic lockdown, aiming to uplift spirits and connect with fans from afar during a time of uncertainty. Black Violin’s Impossible Tour will spread the message that anything is possible and there are no limits to what one can achieve, regardless of circumstance.

5 World Class Illusionists, 1 Incredible Show. Direct from London’s West End, Champions of Magic performs their dazzling show on the Muriel Kauffman Theater stage on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021 at 4 p.m. 

Champions Of Magic started touring in October 2013, and has since completed six U.K. tours, and a U.S. tour in 2017. Their skills have been featured on-screen worldwide, with appearances on The CW’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us, NBC’s Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon, The Today Show, and  Access Hollywood Live. 

The group has more than 30 million online views, in addition to a live, worldwide audience reaching the hundreds of thousands. Each team member specializes in a different type of magic: illusionists Young & Strange, close-up magician Kayla Drescher, escapologist Fernando Velasco, and mind reader Alex McAleer. 

The Champions Of Magic team shares incredible interactive magic, an impossible escape from Houdini’s water torture cell, a mind-blowing prediction that must be seen to be believed, levitation high above the stage, and a finale beyond explanation. From unbelievable mind-reading and stunning close-up tricks, to massive stage-filling illusions, these magicians were born to bend minds. 

Follow the Kauffman Center on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get details about upcoming performances and behind-the-scenes access.