Thomas M. Lauderdale
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Thomas M. Lauderdale was born in 1970 and adopted into a family that included two black siblings and an Iranian brother. He is of "uncertain" Asian heritage. The family lived first on a rural nursery in Indiana, where his father was a gardener. When Thomas was twelve, his father came out of the closet. The family relocated to Portland, Oregon. His parents divorced, but remained on friendly terms, his father later participated in the ceremony when his former wife remarried. His father is the pastor at a southeast Portland church.
Thomas is a classically trained pianist, having begun his studies at the age of six. When he was fifteen, he won the Oregon Symphony's annual Corbett Competition[1] He went on to appear with the Oregon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Chamber Music Northwest, the Oregon Ballet, the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland, and has given recitals in Boston and New York.
He graduated from Portland's Ulysses S. Grant High School, where he was student body president. Thomas went on to study at Harvard University, where he graduated, cum laude, with a degree in literature and history.[citation needed]
In 1992, he returned to Portland and interned in the office of Portland Mayor Bud Clark. In 1994, finding the music at fund-raising events for causes he supported to be lacking, he created the band Pink Martini.
In April 2008, Thomas will perform as the featured piano soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasia with the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland and the University of Portland Singers.
[edit] References
- ^ The Corbett Competition began in 1973, endowed by a gift from Mrs. Henry L. Corbett, Sr., to identify and encourage young instrumentalists who aspire to careers in music. The competition is open to individuals who will be high school students the following year, and are recommended by their private music teachers.
