Adam is an oboe and cor anglais player and a graduate from the Masters course at the Royal Northern College of Music. He studied with Stephane Rancourt, (Principal Oboe with the Halle) and Jennifer Galloway (Principal Oboe with the BBC Philharmonic) along with occasional lessons from Gillian Callow and Tony Robson. His previous teachers have included Hugh McKenna, Melinda Maxwell, Melanie Ragge (Oboe professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the Purcell School of Music) and Simon Gratton. Adam had his first experience of oboe playing whilst in the last year of primary school, but it was not until gaining a place at the Purcell School of Music that he began to consider playing the oboe as a career. He was involved with county and regional orchestras and ensembles from the start of secondary school and soon progressed to National Ensembles such as the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and the European Youth Wind Orchestra where he has been conducted by many leading conductors, including Takuo Yuasa, Grant Llewellyn and Carlo Ritzi. He joined the Purcell School of Music in 2008 and began studying at the RNCM in 2013, where he played in many of the orchestras and ensembles as principal, second and or cor anglais.

 

Adam was involved with a number of chamber groups during his time at the Purcell School and the RNCM. Prior to forming Festivo Winds, Adam was a member of the Sonare Wind Quintet which formed in 2016, who competed at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. Prior to this, Adam was a member of the Barber Quintet which performed a piece by Sir Harrison Birtwistle at the Wigmore Hall, with the composer in attendance.

 

As an orchestral musician, Adam has played in a variety of orchestras and other ensembles, including with the BBC Philharmonic and Halle orchestras at the BBC Studios and the Bridgewater Hall. He has also played in collaboration projects with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, one of these as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Adam spent many years as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales as the principal Cor Anglais player, and also played with the European Union Youth Wind Orchestra on a residency that took place in Luxembourg. During his studies he has also performing in numerous masterclasses to many leading oboe players and professors from Britain and overseas, such as Jonathan Kelly, Nick Daniel, Celia Nicklin, Silverstrini and Francois Leleux.

Adam is a winner of the RNCM Barbirolli Oboe Prize and would like to give special thanks to the William and Frances Dobie Foundation for support in his final year of study at the Royal Northern College of Music. 

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When not playing the oboe, Adam can often be found rock climbing or running a casual ultra marathon. You can see more of his activities here on his Instagram, or read articles.