Caldwell Fine Arts Past Performances

Featuring the talents of Mr. Joesph Adams, concert organist from Seattle

Joseph Adam received his musical training at the University of Iowa, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Washington. He has been Cathedral Organist at St. James Cathedral in Seattle since 1993; in addition to his duties as principal organist for the cathedral, he also oversees the ongoing restoration of the Cathedral's historic 1907 Hutchings-Votey organ, and was involved in the design and installation of the Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Millennium Organ, built by Rosales Organ Builders and completed during the past year. In addition, he was appointed to the Affiliate Artist faculty at the University of Puget Sound in the fall of 1997, where he teaches organ and harpsichord in the School of Music and Community Music divisions. A recipient of numerous awards, he received First Prize at the 1991 St. Albans International Organ Competition in England, and has played recitals throughout the United States and Europe. His most recent recitals have included recitals at the Cathedral of Sint Bavo in Haarlem, the Netherlands; Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, and Walla Walla College. He recently appeared with Choral Arts Northwest in two sell-out Performances of the Seattle Symphony's first annual "Holiday Organ Sing-along" at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. He also served as Performances Chair for the 2000 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists. This event drew almost two thousand organists from around the world to Seattle and Tacoma for five days of concerts and lectures. He will accompany the St. James Cathedral Choir on a ten-day tour of France and Spain in March, 2001; he will also be the opening recitalist this coming July at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C., part of the National Association of Pastoral Musician's national convention.
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Selected reviews:

For a solid hour in the Thomaskirche (Leipzig) the American Joseph Adam traveled through the world of international organ works. Some visitors who were in Leipzig as tourists may have been disappointed that they could hear only two chorale preludes by Bach; however, the real music connoisseurs received a tremendous prize Saturday night in the form of a program with many little-known works. The interpreter from the USA presented himself as a superlative soloist in his registration and his playing technique.
-- Leipziger Volkszeitung, 8/9/93

He has great talent and a wide-ranging musical sensibility. His technique has plenty of bravura and yet never seems an end in itself.
-- Seattle Post-Intellegencer, 9/21/93

Adam, of course, is an organist who is capable of virtually anything. His technique is sterling, and he knows how to extract the instrument's unique colors in complementing the music.
-- Seattle Times, 1/12/95

For more information on the St. James Cathedral and the organs there, log on to www.stjames-cathedral.org.
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Click on picture for a larger view

ACI student during the Organ Crawl

Mr. Adams with ACI President Kevin Learned and his mother.

Mr. Adams and members of the Caldwell Fine Arts Community.

Pipes Spectacular