An omnivorous musician, Sam Suggs was recently named New Artist of the Month by Musical America and earned the grand prize at the 2015 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition performing many of his own compositions.

As a collaborative bassist, he has performed at Chamber Music Northwest, Yellow Barn, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, his jazz/fusion trio Triplepoint has toured in West Africa and Northern Europe, and his band Foundry was named a laureate winner in the inaugural M-Prize Competition. Suggs recently served as principal bass of the Oregon Bach Festival Berwick Academy for Historical Performance and earned honors in music theory and cognition from Northwestern University while working as the youngest principal bass of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

Currently Assistant Professor of Bass at James Madison University, Suggs received a Presser Foundation Award towards his doctoral studies at Yale University and, among many incredible mentors, he has worked with Don Palma, Peter Lloyd, Jeff Bradetich, DaXun Zhang and Edgar Meyer.

Praised for her “expert technical work” (The Strad), cellist Amanda Gookin champions the future of music through bold performances, the creation of new works and a deep commitment to education, cultural equity and community engagement.

Her initiative Forward Music Project, “a premier example of feminist advocacy done right” (I Care If You Listen), commissions new multimedia works for solo cello that elevate stories of feminine empowerment through raw performances and educational initiatives. Since its inception in 2015, FMP has commissioned 18 new works by such composers as Pamela Z, Paola Prestini, Jessie Montgomery, Angélica Negrón, Jessica Meyer, Allison Loggins-Hull, Kamala Sankaram and Nathalie Joachim. She has been presented by The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), The Wallis (Los Angeles), National Sawdust (New York City), OK Electric (Tulsa, Okla.), Forbes Center (Harrisonburg, Va.) Park Avenue Armory (New York City), and deDoelen (Rotterdam, Netherlands). Her first solo album, Forward Music Project 1.0 was listed in The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2020 by the New York Times. Her 2021 sophomore solo album, FMP 2.0: in this skin, was praised as “cello playing at its height; delivering art” by the WholeNote.

Gookin was the founder and decade-long cellist of the contemporary improvising string quartet, PUBLIQuartet. PQ was the 2017-18 Quartet-In-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and recipient of the 2019 Chamber Music America Visionary Award. She initiated PQ’s composer program, PUBLIQ Access, to commission works by emerging composers who significantly impact a new approach to writing for string quartet. In pursuit of socially conscious programming, her album with PUBLIQuartet, Freedom and Faith, addressed the resilience of the female spirit throughout history and received a GRAMMY Award Nomination in 2020.

An advocate for new music, Gookin is a member of Contemporaneous, a New York-based chamber ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting contemporary music; and Nu Deco, a Miami-based ensemble presenting genre-bending music, art and media collaborations in both traditional and alternative venues. She has performed with International Contemporary Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra, Shattered Glass, S.E.M. Ensemble, LA Dance Project and Beth Morrison Projects as well as jazz and pop artists Sigur Rós, Macy Gray, Cory Henry, Billy Childs, Kimbra, Ben Folds and James Carter.

Designing and leading courses on social leadership, music history and improvisation, her work has reinvigorated the core curriculum at The New School College of Performing Arts, Purchase College, and James Madison University. She 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.

Fulfilling her strength and passion for activating change and innovation from both sides of the stage, Gookin served as Executive Director of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival in Virginia and the MATA Festival in New York City, and was the New York City Program Director of New Music USA’s program New Music Inc. She is passionate about supporting artist and small- to mid-sized organizations through a variety of support systems from artist coaching and non-profit consulting to bespoke website design.

When not behind the cello, Gookin is a committed event rider, competing in horse trials with her off-the-track thoroughbred, Henry. She is the proud player of a cello made by David Wiebe in Woodstock, N.Y.