Amanda von Trapp is the third oldest in the line of inimitable von Trapp siblings, but who’s counting? (We are, apparently!) The grandchildren of the youngest boy (portrayed as Kurt, in The Sound of Music) in the famous von Trapp family, and thus great-grandchildren of Georg and Maria von Trapp, our von Trapps grew up as singing siblings with their family in Montana and started touring the world at a young age. They didn’t intend to follow their famous ancestors into singing as a career, but when their grandfather, who taught them Austrian folk songs from the time they were in their respective cradles, was in the hospital after a stroke, they banded together to make a recording together to cheer him up. And thus discovered that they had a knack for this sort of thing! Maybe it was in the genes? In any case, one day, years later, they arrived in Portland to perform with the Oregon Symphony, and Thomas, who has always been obsessed with The Sound of Music, invited them to come up and sing with the band at the holiday tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, sparking a friendship that would lead to dozens of performances together, the album Dream a Little Dream, and many festive schnitzel night parties! Read More...

Pansy Chang is Pink Martini’s athletic aeronaut of the world’s most elegant instrument, the cello (and don’t argue with us about that empirical fact!). A former Fulbright Scholar, Pansy has an impressive C.V. of classical performances which include featured appearances with the National Symphony (Washington DC), the Oregon Symphony, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and more. A member of Pink Martini since the early 2000s, she has played on every Pink Martini album starting with our second release, Hang on Little Tomato. And, insider tip: don’t let anyone tell you that work relationships are a bad idea: Pansy is married to Pink Martini’s guitarist Dan Faehnle. Who wears the pants in that family? All of us agree: they both look great in pants.

1. If you could have seen any musician in concert, dead or alive, who you never got to see live, who would it be?

My teachers, Eleonore Schoenfeld, William Pleeth, and Aldo Parisot

2. If you had a robot that could do one household chore for you… what would it be?

Clean the toilets

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William Seiji Marsh (better known to us as Bill) is our Vice President of the guitar. It’s not an easy job to be on standby to the towering talent of Pink Martini’s guitar virtuoso Dan Faehnle, but, with his secret agent good looks and brilliant guitar chops, Bill is a first-rate super-sub, traveling the world with us whenever Dan isn’t available. Now based in LA, Bill has toured and recorded in the past with the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and Halie Loren, and is currently also a member of the incomparable Edna Vazquez’s band. He’s also an accomplished guitar teacher (look him up if you want on-line lessons!) and has recently been developing a music mindset coaching practice (see more information on this below). When he’s not playing music, or coaching music, he’s building it… in his spare time he enjoys tinkering with and constructing effect pedals, tube amps and more. He’s our own personal Renaissance Man!

1. If you could have seen any musician in concert, dead or alive, who you never got to see live, who would it be?

Leonard Cohen, I think. Read More...

Pink Martini’s plucky heroine (pun intended!) Maureen Love creates aural waterfalls from stage. Though we sadly can’t afford to take a harpist on the road with us full time, Maureen has been a staple of Pink Martini shows in our hometown and at major venues around the world, like the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, since nearly the beginning. Thomas, who grew up listening to Ray Conniff and has always loved the harp, met Maureen at a wedding performance (back in the days that Pink Martini still played weddings) in Oregon City, and knew he needed to recruit her to play those incredible harp swirls that open “Amado Mio.” Maureen has recorded with us on every major Pink Martini studio album.

Maureen was born and raised in Los Angeles, and began harp lessons at the age of 10. She attended USC on a music scholarship, soloing with the USC orchestra. In 1980, she moved to Oregon and began playing harp in the lobby of the new Marriott Hotel, and has since performed at events all over the region. Maureen is also a prize-winning photographer, specializing in landscape and travel fine art photos. Read More...

Dan Faehnle is Pink Martini’s polymath of the guitar. He is somehow at ease in any musical style, effortlessly gliding through his complex finger calculus and translating it into your favorite groove. His guitar solos are legendary efforts that seem to channel a beautiful alien language, as if they sprang from deep space into colorful life. An Ohio native, Dan started playing with Pink Martini over 20 years ago, around the time of the release of Sympathique, and he composed our song “Ohayoo Ohio” (check it out on Splendor in the Grass). He’s also internationally known for holding the guitar chair in Diana Krall’s band for several years, starting in 2000, and he has long collaborated with other renowned jazz greats, such as Dr. Lonnie Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, and Delfeayo Marsalis. On tour Dan is known for his wry sense of humor and his post-show whiskey. We’ll keep bribing him with a tour bus supply of Maker’s for as long as we can keep him!

1. If you could have seen any musician in concert, dead or alive, who you never got to see live, who would it be? Read More...

Our European Tour Director Gilles Gagnepain is the primary tour manager for Pink Martini’s three or four annual tours in Europe and the Middle East… but he also is the master of all of our complicated logistics for those tours, and has the extra responsibility of constantly exploring new touring ideas for us in different territories and at different venues overseas. Think of him as the Supervisor of the best summer camp ever. He keeps away the grizzly bears, leads the craft projects, assigns the bunks, and makes sure no one drowns. All while speaking to you in a charming hybrid of French and English.
A child of the 1960s, as a student in Paris he helped to organize a grand music festival “Campus à l’Oreille”, which took place in a dozen universities, and he has loved organizing complicated events ever since. He started on the road with Pink Martini in 2005, and in 2010 founded his own tour company, Your European Stage, which organizes and produces concerts and tours for artists such as Caetano Veloso, Suzanne Vega, Isabella Rossellini, Souad Massi, Carla Bruni, and many more. Read More...