Adam Neely is an electric and upright bass player/composer/teacher living in New York City, persuing a masters degree Jazz Composition at the Manhattan School of Music. He is the winner of the 2009 Herb Pomeroy award for excellence in jazz composition as well as the winner of the 2006 Maryland Distinguished Scholar in the Arts award and the 2006 Berklee North American Tour scholarship.
Adam grew up in a musical household, and picked up the bass to join a rock band at the age of 13. He quickly graduated from garage band tinkerings to playing in rock and jazz venues across the DC area while still in high school, picking up upright bass and studying with Pepe Gonzalez along the way. Adam began composing during this time, and composed a variety of works, including a big band composition premiered for his graduating high school class of 2006. In 2007 he was accepted into the Berklee College of Music, and studied composition with Greg Hopkins, Scott Free, Ken Pullig, Marti Epstein and Yakov Gubanov, among others. In 2009 he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Jazz Composition and returned home to DC to teach, write, and perform for a year before moving to the big Apple to study with the great jazz composer and pianist Jim McNeely at the Manhattan School of Music.
Adam has had big band and chamber jazz works of his performed at the Berklee Performance Center, Ryles Jazz Club, the David Friend Recital Hall (at Berklee), the Lawrence and Alma Berk Recital Hall (at Berklee), the 2009 Maryland State Jazz Band competition, Borden Auditorium (at Manhattan School of Music), Ades Auditorium (at MSM) and DAR Constitution Hall.
