FORWARD MUSIC PROJECT 2.0: in this skin

AMANDA GOOKIN

Release Date: November 19, 2021

When Gookin released her first solo album, Forward Music Project 1.0, Cheryl Ockrant of The WholeNote wrote, "It is the highest level of artistry that can realize a message, a story, or an emotion while seeming to have not performed it at all." The cellist commits fearlessly to a variety of challenges on the new album, reaching to the extremes of the instrument’s range and expressive possibilities to channel the mixture of anger, fortitude, ambition, courage and sheer beauty expressed through the works of her five new composers. As composer Alex Temple relates in her statement below, Gookin told her she likes composers “pushing her comfort zone,” as a result of which these works contain everything from whispered word and kick drum accompaniments to barely pitched scrapings, extended melodies of acrobatic harmonics, and buzzes that evoke powerful electric currents. As the cellist writes in the album’s introductory text:

…this flesh is where we live,
where we stake our claim,
take up space, stand strong,
own our sexuality,
channel our anger,
and claim our freedom 
we are powerful in this skin

Forward Music Project 2.0: in this skin, is a world-premiere recording promoting feminine self-expression and empowerment by Grammy®-nominated cellist, activist and creator of the Forward Music Project Amanda Gookin. The five featured composers commissioned by Gookin are Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Alex Temple, Paola Prestini, Kamala Sankaram and Shelley Washington, and the producer is multifaceted composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery.

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FMP 2.0

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TRACK LIST

Niloufar Nourbakhsh
Veiled
Alex Temple
Tactile
Paola Prestini
To Tell A Story
Kamala Sankaram
Belly
Sanguine
Choleric
Melancholic
Shelley Washington
Seething

Tracks 1-7: Amanda Gookin, cello, vocals, kick drum​​
Track 1: Chelsea Loew and Solmaz Badri, vocals
Track 3: Sxip Shirey, electronics

ABOUT AMANDA GOOKIN:

Praised for her “expert technical work” (The Strad), cellist Amanda Gookin "pushes Classical forward" (LA Times) and champions the future of music through the creation and bold performance of new works, and a dedication to education, culture, and community engagement. 

Her initiative, Forward Music Project, commissions new multimedia works for solo cello that elevate stories of feminine empowerment. Since its inception in 2015, FMP has commissioned 18 composers and has been presented by The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), The Wallis (Los Angeles), National Sawdust (New York City), OK Electric (Tulsa), Park Avenue Armory (New York City), and deDoelen (Rotterdam, NL). Her newly released album, Forward Music Project 1.0, was praised as “the highest level of artistry” by The Whole Note and listed in The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2020 by the New York Times.

Amanda was the founder and decade-long cellist of the contemporary improvising string quartet, PUBLIQuartet. PQ was the 2017/18 Quartet-In-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and recipient of the 2019 Chamber Music America Visionary Award. In pursuit of socially conscious programming, her GRAMMY® nominated album with PUBLIQuartet, Freedom and Faith, addressed the resilience of the female spirit throughout history. 

Designing and leading courses on social leadership, music history, and improvisation, her work has reinvigorated the core curriculum at The New School College of Performing Arts and SUNY Purchase. Amanda is a sought-after public speaker on the intersections of activism and music and has made appearances on TEDxMidAtlantic, Houston Public Media, Second Inversion, and I Care If You Listen. Fulfilling her strength and passion for activating change and innovation from both sides of the stage, she serves as Executive Director of the MATA Festival in New York City and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival in Virginia.

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