Claus Adam

Who was Claus Adam?

Claus Adam was an influential American cellist and cello teacher as well as a composer. His music teachers include Emanuel Fuermann, Stefan Wolpe, and Leon Barzin He served as the second cellist of the Juilliard String Quartet, replacing Arthur Winograd in 1955. Joel Krosnick, a former student of his, replaced him as cellist of the quartet in 1974. He devoted the last decade of his life primarily to musical composition, and several of his works—including a cello concerto and a string trio—are published by G. Schirmer.

Adam lived in Indonesia until he was six. His father, Tassilo Adam, was an ethnologist there. He then went to Europe and studied in Salzburg. In 1929 he went to the USA.