Canadian Juno Award-winning Amanda Forsyth is considered one of North America's most dynamic cellists. Describing a recent performance, California’s Ventura County Star raves “In Forsyth’s hands, it was sheer magic.” She has achieved her international reputation as soloist, chamber musician and principal cellist of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra from 1999 to 2015. Her intense richness of tone, remarkable technique and exceptional musicality combine to enthrall audiences and critics alike.
Ms. Forsyth has performed on international tours with the Royal Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras. Orchestral appearances include, among others, Orchestre Radio de France, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, National Arts Center Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, and Gyeonggi Philharmonic. With multiple tours in Australia, she has also appeared with Sydney, Perth, and Adelaide Symphonies. In the U.S. she has performed with the Chicago, Washington National, San Diego, Colorado, Oregon, New West, Dallas, and Grand Rapids Symphonies. Ms. Forsyth has appeared numerous times on tour and in St. Petersburg with the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. In 2014, Ms. Forsyth made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a founding member of the Zukerman Chamber Players, Amanda Forsyth has visited Germany, Israel, Italy, Finland, Holland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Turkey, and cities such as London, Vienna, Paris, Belgrade, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Warsaw and Barcelona. As cellist of the Zukerman Trio, she has performed on six continents and has appeared at prestigious music festivals such as Edinburgh, Miyazaki, Verbier, BBC Proms, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Spring Festival of St. Petersburg, White Night Festival, and La Jolla Summer Fest. Her current season includes Zukerman Trio engagements with Chamber Music Sedona, Detroit Chamber Music Society, Music Institute of Chicago, and Savannah Music Festival.
Highlights from Amanda Forsyth’s 2018-2019 season include a world premiere performance of Marjan Mozetich’s Cello Concerto with the National Arts Center Orchestra, as well as Ms. Forsyth’s debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing the Brahms Double Concerto with Zubin Mehta conducting.
Amanda Forsyth’s recordings appear on the Sony Classics, Naxos, Altara, Fanfare, Marquis, Pro Arte and CBC labels. Her recording of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers and Yefim Bronfman was released by Sony in 2008. Her most recent disc features the Brahms Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra released by Analekta Records.
Born in South Africa, Ms. Forsyth moved to Canada as a child and began playing cello at the age of three. She became a protégé of William Pleeth in London, and later studied with Harvey Shapiro at the Juilliard School. Ms. Forsyth performs on a rare 1699 Italian cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore.
Reviews
No one knows this work better than Forsyth, and not just because it leapt out of her own gene pool, having been written for her by her father Malcolm Forsyth. But she has performed it so many times it flows out of her fingers and her bow as if it had a voice of its own.
Amanda Forsyth brings passion and formidable technique as a cellist.
