Education

Adam holds a Master of Music in Conducting from Portland State University where he studied with Thomas Iverson and Bruce Browne, as well as Rod Eichenberger, Rene Clausen and Dale Warland.  He studied composition with Tim Stephens and Bryan Johanson and Orchestration with Brad Hanson.  Before that, he graduated from Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and Vocal Performance.

Composition/Arranging

Adam is an ASCAP member and is an active composer for films and production music libraries, as well as active performing ensembles.  His work was featured in the 2017 48 Hour Film Project in Portland, Oregon.  He's a contributing artist for Velvet Green Music, a production music company located in Santa Monica, California.  Adam has had dozens of compositions and arrangements premiered by a variety of vocal and instrumental ensembles in the Pacific Northwest, including Cappella Romana, Choral Cross-Ties, The Ensemble, Consonare and Cantabile.  He has been commissioned by coro uomo, Concord Family of Choirs and Portland Symphonic Quartet among others.  He also works as a freelance arranger for vocal and instrumental groups at the high school, university, community, church and professional levels.  Aside from being widely performed, Adam has been recognized for his arranging and composing. His works have been chosen to be part of the Project: Encore database and as first alternate in the C4 (New York) Composition Contest.

Performing

Since receiving his degree in Vocal Performance, Adam has performed as a member of the Rachel Taylor Brown Band (vocals, saxophone, clarinet, percussion), as a singer with the Portland Symphonic Choir, Choral Arts Ensemble, Concord Choir, as well as, the professional ensembles Choral Cross-Ties, Cappella Romana, The Ensemble, Portland Pro Musica, Resonance Ensemble and Cantabile.  He has appeared as a featured soloist with the Oregon Symphony, Portland Symphonic Choir, The Ensemble, Cappella Romana and Cantores in ecclesia.  He is active as a studio and session musician, and has recorded more than 40 albums with local ensembles and music publishers on the Gagliano, Gothic, Koch Classical and OCP lables.  He regularly tours domestically and internationally with Cappella Romana, and he was recently inducted into the Pacific University Music Alumni Hall of Fame.

Conducting

Adam received his Master's Degree in Conducting from Portland State University and is an ACDA member, serving as the Oregon State ACDA High School Standards and Repertoire Chair.  He has served as conductor of Voces Auream and interim conductor for Cappella Nova at Lewis and Clark College, conductor of the men's chorus coro uomo and was founder and artistic director of the men's chorus Vir. Adam has served as assistant conductor for Cappella Romana and the Portland Baroque Orchestra Chorus.  He was the first director of Portland State University's men's chorus, and has been the conductor for many concerts and recording sessions including dozens of performances as pit orchestra director for staged musicals, the "Brothers Sing On" festival and the biannual "Concert for Peace" sponsored by the Institute for Christian-Muslim Understanding.  In 2015, Adam participated in the International Conductors Exchange Program fellowship with the American Choral Director’s Association.  He was chosen as one of 14 conductors nationwide to represent the art of American choral conducting in Sweden.  His two-week fellowship culminated in his conducting as part of the Scandinavian Choral Conference in Malmö, Sweden.  Adam has served as Director of Music at Valley Community Presbyterian Church and at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. Adam is also an active member of the Northwest chapter of Liederkranz.

Teaching

Adam currently teaches vocal music and music production at Oregon Episcopal School, the leading college-prep K-12 school in Portland where he has taught for over 20 years.  He is a member of OMEA (Oregon Music Educators Association) and NAfME (National Association for Music Education).  He has been an adjunct faculty member at Lewis and Clark College and a private instrumental and vocal music instructor.  Adam has served as a private vocal music instructor for local music festivals and is a state-certified adjudicator for local solo and choral contests, as well as for the Beaverton Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Concerto Competition.