Amanda Gookin is a cellist, a founding member of the acclaimed track institution PUBLIQuartet. Considering 2015, the Forward Music Project’s founding father commissions new multimedia works for solo cello by way of forward-wondering composers who encourage social exchange and female empowerment. According to Gookin, The Forward Music Project “confronts the target audience with a visceral revel in music, mild, and stories that discover various troubles, from the LGBTQ+ to reproductive rights, sexual violence, and frame shaming.
These works are achieved via the lens of solo cello, electronics, projection artwork via S. Katy Tucker, and audio interludes from the composers. In performance, Gookin sings, chants, fights, and breathes lifestyles into those new works. We spoke to Gookin, and her collaborators S. Katy Tucker (projections) and Allison Loggins-Hull (composer) about the Forward Music Project previous to their DC look at Dupont Underground, a part of the Kennedy Center’s Direct Current Festival.
Nicole: What inspired you to observe the Forward Music Project?
One day, in the fall of 2015, while being attentive to public radio, I heard a recording of a speech through Seattle City Council member and social activist Kshama Sawant. It has become clear to me that I have not heard ladies voices at the podium or the concert level enough. Kshama stimulated me. She had guts and became creating alternate. I dreamt of a project that would permit me to share memories of femininity through the track. What better way to spark a meditation on identification politics than inside the protection of the cocooned live performance? Enjoy.
This is my first solo venture, all while diving deep into the world of activism and social justice. I sought out critical feedback from diffusion of people in and outdoor of the track enterprise. I desired to understand higher the way to serve my personal and surrounding communities. When I approached the composers to jot down for me, we first communicated approximately their lives and the venture’s assignment. Then, I invited them to enroll in me on this larger verbal exchange thru song. My creative collaborator and visual artist, S. Katy Tucker, design stunning projection art for every Forward Music Project paintings, developing an immersive enjoy for the target market.
What are your desires in advocating for numerous voices in classical track?
Amanda: To create new works for cello by selecting composers and interacting with audiences in thoughtful conversations around gender and overcoming the oppressively white representation in classical music, from the programming to the administration.
