Forward Music Project elevates stories of feminine empowerment through socially-conscious commissioning, raw performances, and educational initiatives.
The music of FMP directly engages with the world we live in by valuing vulnerability and unrelentless realism. These works are performed through the lens of solo cello by FMP founder and performer Amanda Gookin, electronics, video art by S Katy Tucker, and audio interludes by the composers. In performance, Amanda sings, chants, fights, gasps, and breathes life into these new works.
Presented by The Kennedy Center, Park Avenue Armory, National Sawdust and educational programs in the midwest where young women first discover their voices through music, the message of FMP since its inception in 2015 is unwavering: in the fight for radical empathy and feminine empowerment, you are not alone.
During the world premiere of the first seven solo cello and electronics commissions, Bruce Hodges of The Strad magazine wrote, "Gookin's focus and ferocity - coupled with expert technical work - made her message unforgettable."
Amanda Gookin, cellist
she/her/hers
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. Her newly released album, Forward Music Project 1.0, was celebrated by the NY Times as “communal joy embedded in a music of cooperation.”
Amanda was the founder and decade-long cellist of the contemporary improvising string quartet, PUBLIQuartet. 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 core curriculum as faculty at The New School 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.
S. Katy Tucker, video & projection designer
she/her/hers
S. Katy Tucker is a video and projections designer based in NYC. Tucker began her career as a painter and installation artist, exhibiting her work at a variety of galleries, such as the Corcoran Museum in Washington, D.C. and Artist's Space in New York City. Her work in theater and opera has been seen around the world, including Broadway; Off-Broadway; the Metropolitan Opera; the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall; the New York City Ballet; the Kennedy Center; BAM, The Park Avenue Armory, among others.
She has collaborated with musicians including: Paul McCartney, Paola Prestini, Jeff Ziegler, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Recent productions include Dmitri Tcherniakov’s Prince Igor at the Dutch National Opera and Metropolitan Opera, The Ring Cycle with Francesca Zambello at San Francisco Opera, Iron & Coal with Kevin Newbury, If You Listen with R.B. Schlater, and Sets and Video for Orphee at Banff Center with Joel Ivany and West Side Story at the Kennedy Center with Francesca Zambello. Upcoming: Silent Voices with Kevin Newbury, The Park Avenue Armory Gala with Stefan Beckman, Set and Video design for Parsifal at IU Opera Theater and Florencia en el Amazonas at Houston Grand Opera.