Amanda Forsyth… Agamemnon and Electra

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Wntr, 1999

Amanda Forsyth is a woman on the move. Newly appointed by Pinchas Zukerman to principal cello with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, she previously was with the Toronto Symphony for two seasons and the Calgary. Philharmonic. She also has a busy career performing as a soloist with other orchestras and chamber groups around the world, and commands a versatile repertoire that stretches across many musical genres.

Amanda is also a member of Octagon '99, a group which includes eight international recording stars, six Juno winners, four holders of the Order of Canada and three principal players in major orchestras. They are: Andrew Dawes (violin), Rivka Golani (violin), Angele Dubeau (violin), James Sommerville (horn), James Campbell (clarinet), Joel Quarrington (double-bass), George Zukerman (bassoon) and Amanda.

When not occupied with performing she teaches master classes and is on the faculty at the University of Calgary and at the Mount Royal College Conservatory.

The talented cellist has a new CD out, Soaring With Agamemnon, which showcases her versatility of repertoire as well as a longstanding musical relationship with her father. Amanda is the daughter of one of this country's best known composers, Malcolm Forsyth (the only Canadian composer to receive three Juno awards for Best Classical Composition). Forsyth pere has been writing cello compositions for his daughter over the past two decades, beginning when she was just seven years of age. (She had already been playing the cello for four years at this point.)

In 1997 Amanda recorded his cello concerto Electra Rising with the Edmonton Symphony and the CD garnered a Juno Award. Conductor Mario Bernardi (who handled conducting duties on the Electra Rising CD and helped arrange the commission from CBC for the composition) calls Malcolm Forsyth's work "melodic and accessible".

The music on Soaring With Agamemnon is characterized by the soaring melodies for which he is renowned. There are two additional compositions by Gavin Bryars and Arvo Part. (The title flows naturally from the Electra Rising recording in a reference to the classical father and daughter, Agamemnon and Electra.)

Like their classical counterparts, the cellist and her father have often been separated, since the day she went off to study at Juilliard. She is based in Ottawa now and he has been composer-in-residence at the University of Alberta since 1996. Unlike the mythical Agamemnon and Electra, this family unit can rely on technology to facilitate their musical communication. Malcolm often faxes parts of his compositions to Amanda for her comments.

Though the geographical distance between this earthbound, present day father/daughter team is considerable, they take great delight in their musical collaboration.