For elevating stories of suffering and joy. For raising awareness of injustice. For shining a light on a culture of musical-patriarchal deification. Whether you come with caution and leave with curiosity, come as a victim and find a voice, or come as an ally and feel a sense of community, I founded Forward Music Project for you. For mothers. For sisterhood. For brave storytellers and quiet listeners. I sing, I gasp, I fight, I breathe life into the work of these fearless artists. I founded Forward Music Project for you. And you are not alone. Amanda Gookin, April 2020 Cellist and creator of Forward Music Project
If we sit for too long and take for granted our freedoms, they slowly but surely will be taken away from us. — Amanda Gookin, LA Times
AMANDAGOOKIN Cellist Amanda Gookin celebrates the music of the moment and “pushes classical forward.” (LA Times) In pursuit of socially-conscious programming, her GRAMMY® nominated album with PUBLIQuartet, Freedom and Faith, addressed the resilience of the female spirit throughout history; and her Forward Music Project focuses on contemporary stories of womanhood around the world. 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. Designing and leading courses on social leadership, music history, and improvisation, her work has reinvigorated core curriculum at The New School and SUNY Purchase. Amanda is the proud player of a cello made by David Wiebe in Woodstock, NY.
The music of FMP directly engages with the world we live in by valuing vulnerability and unrelentless realism. 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 is unwavering: in the fight for radical empathy and feminine empowerment, you are not alone. During the world premiere of these 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.”
1. DAM MWEN YO Dam mwen yo in Haitian Creole simply translates to “my ladies.” In Haitian culture, women are the fearless and loving pillars of their homes and communities who work tirelessly with very little regard, often finding solace and strength through song. This piece, which combines my own voice and personal recordings of my family members with the cello in a somber melody, is a tribute to the Haitian women in my life who were central to my upbringing and continue to empower my own sense of womanhood.
NATHALIEJOACHIM
Nathalie Joachim is a GRAMMY® nominated flutist, composer, and vocalist. The Brooklyn born Haitian-American artist is hailed for being “a fresh and invigorating cross-cultural voice.” (The Nation). She is co-founder of the critically acclaimed urban art pop duo, Flutronix, and comfortably navigates everything from classical to indie-rock, all while advocating for social change and cultural awareness.
2. STOLEN Stolen is a sonatine of three short movements exploring the journey of a young girl who is sold into marriage. The first movement represents her stolen youth, the second explores the sense of urgency felt about being forced into womanhood, and the third is her reluctant acceptance and submission to an undesired life. Today, 1 in 3 of girls in the developing world are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15.
ALLISONLOGGINS-HULL
Over the past several years, Allison Loggins-Hull’s work and process have shifted to fully represent who she is: a Black woman, an American, and a mother. Loggins-Hull is focused on creating work that is responsive to the times and particularly drawn to highlighting the experiences of minorities, women, and exploring how American politics affect future generations. Influenced by many genres,Loggins-Hull’s work “allows multiple voices to share in the shaping of a shaping of a music that is equally indebted to and comfortable in several musical lineages.” (NewMusicBox)
3. LAS DESAPARECIDAS Las Desaparecidas is a piece for cello and electronics inspired by young girls abducted and used for human trafficking, more specifically the case of the disappeared girls from Juárez in Mexico. The piece uses found sounds and restless rhythms to focus on the on loss of innocence, exhaustion of survival instincts, and the role of machismo sexism in gender-directed violence.
ANGÉLICANEGRÓN
Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, plants, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, films, orchestras and choir. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Her work explores the sometimes-overlooked magic in the seemingly insignificant, the domestic and the quotidian to create a personal microcosm of recollections through sound.
4. MEMORIES LIE DORMANT memories lie dormant is a piece that mirrors what it means to be a survivor of sexual abuse/assault. The content pushes the performer to apply the given notation to an external context; they must draw meaning from seeming chaos and discern that the notation is not the only parameter they must interpret.
MORGAN KRAUSS
Composer Morgan Krauss’ ambitions in her works are to produce tactile explorations based on one’s physical awareness and elements of allurement. Her music is focused on the latent instability of seemingly fixed gestures where the interaction between performer and the score creates yet a third entity, often guided by improvisation and the clashing of emotional opposites. The notation demonstrates a reluctant “theatricality,” and at times the placement/staging of the gesture about the page, encourage the performer to turn away from the wider environment in search for meaning.
5. STRAY SODS Through processed samples of toys, heartbeats, and hospital equipment, Stray Sods explores the subject of baby loss and abortion. The piece is a hybrid lullaby-mourning song for the thousands of Irish women that have had to travel to the UK for decades to access adequate medical care for abortion as up to 2018, abortion was illegal in Ireland and carried a 14-year prison sentence.
AMANDA FEERY
Irish composer Amanda Feery works with acoustic, electronic, and improvised music, and has written for chamber and vocal ensembles, film, theatre, installation, and multimedia. Her work has been described as “captivating” (I Care If You Listen) and as having an “appetite for risk”(Journal of Music). Much of her inspiration comes from literature, cultural criticism, folk music, and the natural world, and many ofher recent works have had a charged socio-political focus.
6. FOR EDNA When I was asked to participate in this project, I wanted to write a piece that encapsulated the strength of women. At first, I was going to write something physically and aurally demanding — hard; I then realized that our strength is perseverance and endurance, adaptability and openness, and connection to others. Dedicated to a decolonizing activist historian friend, I wrote this piece thinking about women loving their man who has lost their children; women who have been beaten by men, the system,or both, and who still have the strength to love.
LEILAADU A “Cosmopolitan Composer” (The Listener magazine), Dr. Adu-Gilmore’s compositions are notable for the way she “constantly challenges your senses with broken rhythms and unexpected tempo and mood” (Radio NZ). Of New Zealand Pākehā and Ghanaian descent and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, with family in London, Adu-Gilmore is passionate about the role of music in social change, mental well-being and human connection, and seeks out collaborations wherever she travels. Adu-Gilmore has performed her original piano songs and improvisations alongside international artists at festivals and venues in the UK, mainland Europe, the US, Russia, Ghana and Asia.
7. SWERVE Swerve is about making a conscious effort to get everything grooving the way it should, in balance with all the feelings and responsibilities that are unique to women. In essence...that moment when you “get your swerve on.”
JESSICAMEYER
With playing that is “fierce and lyrical”and works that are “other-worldly”(The Strad) and “evocative” (New York Times), Jessica Meyer is a versatile composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility and emotional clarity. Meyer’s compositions viscerally explore the wide palette of emotionally expressive colors available to each instrument while using traditional and extended techniques inspired by her varied experiences as a contemporary and period instrumentalist.
ALBUM CREDITS Album artwork and design by Giselle Manzano Ramirez Produced by Amanda Gookin, Louis Levitt and Garth MacAleavey Engineered by Garth MacAleavey and Mike Tierney Edited, Mixed, and Mastered by Mike Tierney Tracks 2-7 recorded at National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY, July 2019
For Edna Lyrics by Leila Adu-Gilmore You are not alone, goodman You are not alone, goodman Call Call Call Call Call Call
to to to to to to
the the the the the the
strength that we have inside moon in the sky above peace that gives us life strength that we have inside sun in the sky above peace that gives us life
You are not alone
Track 1 recorded at Shiny Things Studio, Brooklyn, NY, December 2019 Photos by Ryan Scherb Performer credits: Tracks 1-7: Amanda Gookin, cello Track 4 and 6: Amanda Gookin, vocals Track 1: Nathalie Joachim, pre-recorded vocals www.amandagookin.com
With support from: The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts
I would like to acknowledge all of those who supported this project. Special thanks to National Sawdust for giving me home: Paola Prestini advocated for my project and provided opportunities that gave me an international voice, not to mention she wrote me an extremely beautiful piece for FMP 2.0; Courtenay Casey believed in me and programmed the World Premiere of FMP 1.0; Holly Hunter produced all of my NS Projects tours and provided unending emotional support; Garth MacAleavey created the most gorgeous sound design and engineered this album; Jill Steinberg took the most captivating photos; and Bruce Steinberg designed the best lighting I have ever basked in. Eun Lee of The Dream Unfinished was the first to program FMP when I was just starting out. Stuart Wolferman and Unfinished Side were with me faithfully from the beginning. A bear hug to my artistic collaborator, S. Katy Tucker, who designs the beautifully evocative video art for our live performances. Sam Suggs, I’ll never forget you driving 3 hours out of your way to find me a desk bell the day of a major performance. And I’d like to thank all of my friends and family, without whom I would be a ball of mush. You give me the courage to stand tall. Thank you.