He is a violist and radio host who studied at the Mannes College of Music and the Eastman School of Music.
After graduating he performed with many orchestras that include the Colorado Springs Symphony, Denver Chamber Orchestra, Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Phiharmonic, Tulsa Philharmonic and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, where he met his wife Daria.
He was invited by Edo de Waart to become a member of the Minnesota Orchestra’s viola section in 1988 and during the 16-month lock out of the Minnesota musicians from 2012 he became a substitute musician for nine other orchestras. He has been the host of the Minnesota Orchestra’s “Adventures in Music” family concerts and been a guest musician with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He retired from the orchestra in 2018/9 after 30 years.
With his wife, the violinist Daria Adams, he became the founding Artistic Director of the Music in the Vineyards Festival in Napa Valley, California.
On radio he was the morning host for Classical WCAL-FM and later worked on Minnesota Public Radio .
Recordings he has performed on include Time and Chance by Color Me Badd, Provocative by Johnny Gill, That Kind of Day by TD Mischke, Motown Comes Home by various artists and Make Him Do Right by Karyn White
In the field of musical education he has been a viola instructor at the St. Paul Conservatory of Music and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies has held several master classes.
Sources:
- https://thespcm.org/michael-adams
- https://content.thespco.org/people/michael-adams/
- https://gtcys.org/community/private-teachers/michael-adams
- https://www.startribune.com/a-peek-inside-the-lives-of-classical-musicians/178001861/
- https://musiciansspco.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/did-you-know-that-spco-violinist-daria-adams-and-her-husband-minnesota-orchestra-violist-michael-adams-are-co-directors-of-a-summer-chamber-music-festival-in-napa-valley/
- https://www.musicinthevineyards.org/about-us/board-staff/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/5183007-Michael-Adams-11