Percussionist and Educator Dr. Adam Snow is the Director of Percussion Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and formerly oversaw the percussion programs at Winthrop University and Davidson College. His diverse musical background has greatly shaped his voice as an artist and as an educator.
Over the years, Adam has had the opportunity to perform with jazz masters such as Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Cyrus Chestnut, and Russell Malone, New Orleans funk legend George Porter Jr. of The Meters, celebrated tenor Andrea Bocelli, Tony and Emmy Award-winning Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth, Grammy-winning Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, Trinidadian steel pan phenom Liam Teague, Celtic fiddler Jamie Laval, South African kora master Pops Mohamed, Guinean Djembefolas Bolokada Conde and Mohamed Da Costa, Shona mbira visionary Chartwell Dutiro, Afro-Cuban percussion virtuosos Jesus Diaz and Michael Spiro, and the late, great Clarence "Big Man" Clemons of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
From 2002 to 2008, Snow toured the United States with the modern jazz trio called Green Light. The band’s four albums were met with critical acclaim and during his tenure with Green Light, Snow shared the stage with artists such as John Scofield, Charlie Hunter, Oteil Burbridge, Kofi Burbridge, Wayne Krantz, Jimmy Herring, Keith Carlock, and Melvin Seals, among others. Green Light's albums are available via iTunes.
In 2013, Adam began touring with the New York City-based band Matuto. The self-proclaimed “Pioneers of Brazilian Bluegrass” blend elements of Forró from the Northeast of Brazil with Americana, Old Time, and Bluegrass. The Chicago Sun-Times puts them at “the heights of world music sophistication" and Jazz Times magazine calls them “weird, wonderful, unorthodox, and delightful.” Through the U.S. State Department’s American Musicians Abroad (AMA) program, Matuto has traveled the globe as ambassadors for American culture and Adam has had the opportunity to travel and perform with Matuto in Europe, South America, Canada, and from coast to coast in the United States.
Snow has performed with many organizations such as the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Opera Carolina, Carolinas Wind Orchestra, Davidson Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Arts Initiative, Children's Theater of Charlotte, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Greenville (SC) Jazz Collective, and Carolina Voices.
Adam received a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degree from Winthrop University. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Snow is a member of Percussive Arts Society, Jazz Educators Network, The Society for Ethnomusicology, and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. He is a contributor to the Percussive Arts Society's journal Percussive Notes, serves on the PAS World Percussion Committee, and is an artist endorser for Innovative Percussion.