Adam was born and grew up in Limerick. He became interested in composition while studying music as an undergraduate at University College Cork, where he met John Godfrey and took several courses on contemporary and electronic music. It was also John who suggested approaching a career in composition via the traditional route of finding a working composer to apprentice under for a few years. That suggestion eventually brought Adam into contact with the composer Klaus Lang, who offered him a place in his class at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. In Graz he gained a practical knowledge of harmony and counterpoint as well as experience writing for ensembles and organizing concerts, works of short opera. He graduated with a master of arts in composition in 2013.
Adam spent the following three years working on small commissions, including a work for Klangforum Wien that was premiered at the impuls festival in 2017. In order to pay the bills during this time, he apprenticed as a piano maker in Graz and Vienna, and learned the valuable skills of tuning, regulating and restoring instruments. Recent compositional work includes successful collaborations with the piano trio Longleash, ensemble Platypus, Aarhus Unge Tonkunstnere and a memorable concert in the Basilica of San Giorgio, Venice.
He is currently based in Vienna where he works as a part time lecturer in composition and electronic music at the Vienna Music Institute, tunes pianos and helps to run NOW! contemporary opera. In his spare time Adam enjoys long distance running and learning computer science.
