Norman Adams is Principal Cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia, the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN music, Music Director of Gwen Noah Dance, and a musician eager to explore many different styles of music, sound creation and performance. A student of Hans Jørgen Jensen, the American master Bernard Greenhouse, and American new music pioneer Pauline Oliveros, Norman has been a featured soloist with SNS, and Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal and has performed chamber, and improvised music throughout Canada, the US and the UK. His performances have also been heard across Canada on CBC Radio One and Two.
Norman’s musical career finds him performing in diverse venues, in collaboration with a broad range of performers. Amongst others, he has collaborated with pop singer Linda Brooks, Jest in Time Theatre, David Jalbert, Pauline Oliveros, Barry Guy, David Mott, improvisers Dani Oore, Ladonna Smith, Peggy Lee, Rufus Cappadocia, Lee Pui Ming and The National Ballet of Canada. Norman can be heard on many recordings and film soundtracks, most notably the NFB documentary “Hoffman’s Potion. In October 2005 Norman performed in, and created electronic music for Unplugged, Susan Cook’s choreography for dancer and cyclists. This past summer Norman was featured at both the Atlantic Jazz Festival and the Concerts aux Iles du Bic Chamber Music Festival in Rimouski, Quebec
Since 2000 Norman has been the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN Music, producing concerts of strange and exciting music, both for soloist, and with a broad range of collaborators. Over the past eleven seasons Norman has collaborated extensively as a performer, improviser and composer with Halifax dancer/choreographer Gwen Noah. Together they have performed over fifty concerts around Nova Scotia, and in several tours across Canada.
In 2007/2008, Norman will collborate and perform with Buck 65 and Symphony Nova Scotia, and continue work on the multidisciplinary performance piece Mr. O. Throughout the season suddenlyLISTEN will present concert collaborations with artists including Eddie Prévost, Monique Buzzarté, Daniel Hëikalo and others.
Norman has been the recipient of numerous grants from the Canada Council and the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism Culture and Heritage. In 2000, Norman was named to the Halifax Chronicle Herald Arts Honour Role.
