Adam received a scholarship to study composition with Dr Anthony Gilbert, Simon Holt, and Elena Firsova at The Royal Northern College of Music where he completed a BMus (Hons) degree.
During this time he received masterclass tuition from Simon Holt, Steve Martland, Micheal Zev Gordon and John McCabe.

The Edward Hecht prize for Composition was awarded to him for his Second String Quartet, after it’s world premiere at The Montepulciano Chamber Music Festival 1999.

In the same year Adam appeared on a televised masterclass with film composer John Barry at his home in New York. The programme was entitled “Masterclass” and was produced by Zenith-North Productions.

After accepting a postgraduate position at the Rotterdam Conservatoire to study with Klaas de Vries, Adam continued to compose and subsequently record compositions with his duo partner Alison Lambert (www.lambertjohnson.com).