Amanda Forsyth Cellist

Canadian Juno Award-winning Amanda Forsyth is considered one of North America's most dynamic cellists. She has achieved her international reputation as soloist, chamber musician and was principal cello 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.

She has performed on tours with the Royal Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras, and has appeared with such orchestras as Orchestre Radio de France, Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Maggio Musicale Orchestra. In the U.S. she has performed with the San Diego, Colorado, Oregon and Grand Rapids Symphonies and appeared with the Dallas Symphony in both Texas and on tour. Performances with the Moscow Virtuosi in both Moscow and St Petersburg in 2011 were filmed for national television broadcast. In June 2012 Ms. Forsyth appeared with the Mariinsky Orchestra in St Petersburg conducted by Valery Gergiev and was reengaged as part of the reopening of the hall in 2013. In March 2014, Ms. Forsyth made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Last season Ms. Forsyth was invited for her first homecoming tour of South Africa performing Malcom Forsyth's Elektra Rising among other repertoire. She was then re-engaged to return in March 2016 for solo performances. Her season began in Australia with concerts in Sydney and Perth followed by a South American tour to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, performing works with orchestra by Dvorak, Bruch and Brahms, and appearing with the Zukerman Trio. Other concerto highlights include the Herbert Cello Concert with the San Carlo Orchestra in Naples, Italy, and the Shostakovich Concerto with the Gyonggi Philharmonic in Korea. Brahms Double Concerto performances bring her to Mumbai with the Israel Philharmonic, and Spain and the United Kingdom with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; North American performances of this work will take place in Calgary and Greensboro, NC. She performs with Bargemusic's Masterworks Series in New York City and tours with the Zukerman Trio to Korea, Italy, Japan, and to the 92nd Street Y's Distinguished Artist Series.

As a founding member of the Zukerman ChamberPlayers she has visited Germany, Israel, Italy, Finland, Holland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Turkey, and cities such as London, Vienna, Paris, Belgrade, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Warsaw and Barcelona, and performed for the Petra Conference for Nobel Laureates in Jordan. In addition, this ensemble was celebrated in a series in New York at the 92nd Street Y and performed several South American tours. A regular guest artist at Japan’s Miyazaki Festival, she also appeared in gala fundraising concerts following the Japanese earthquake disaster. As cellist of the Zukerman Trio, she has performed in Hungary, Turkey, Russia, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Romania and the US including summer festivals in Edinburgh, Verbier, BBC Proms and Ravinia.

Ms. Forsyth’s recordings appear on the Sony Classics, Naxos, Altara, Fanfare, Marquis, Pro Arte and CBC labels. In 2002 she was the subject of the Bravo! Canada television documentary Amanda Rising: The Amanda Forsyth Story. The program followed Ms. Forsyth’s life from her early years as a young South African immigrant to her later success on the international music scene. In 2007 Ms. Forsyth featured prominently on Wynton Marsalis’s soundtrack for The War, Ken Burns’s widely-acclaimed World War II documentary filmed for PBS. Her recording of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers and Yefim Bronfman was released by Sony in 2008;a recording of the Brahms Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra was released last fall by Analekta Records.

Born in South Africa, Ms. Forsyth moved to Canada as a child and began playing cello at age 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.