Michael Adams

Strings, Viola

Violist Michael Adams has carved out a unique career that has led down many roads: a 30-year tenure with the Minnesota Orchestra, as a chamber musician, radio host and producer, and program note annotator. Along with his violinist wife Daria, Michael is the founding Artistic Director of Music in the Vineyards Festival in Napa, CA.

He joined the viola section of the Minnesota Orchestra in 1988 at the invitation of Edo de Waart after serving as the morning show host for (the former) Classical WCAL-FM and later for Minnesota Public Radio. Prior to arriving in the Twin Cities, Michael’s itinerant path included stints with the Rochester Philharmonic, Denver Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Springs Symphony, Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Philharmonic and Santa Fe Opera Orchestras. When the Minnesota Orchestra musicians were locked out for 16 months beginning in 2012, Michael was engaged by nine major orchestras as a substitute musician. He attended both the Mannes College of Music and Eastman School of Music. He is the father to three adult children. An avid bicyclist, Adams also enjoys canoe camping in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness Area, and planning fantasy vacation trips with his collection of maps. Someday, he will own a boat larger than a canoe.