CLEVELAND, OH, October 28, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present H. Leslie Adams, PhD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Adams celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Adams has found much success as a talented and tenured American composer of instrumental, vocal solo and keyboard. His incredible career has included composing in all aspects of media from symphony and ballet to vocal solos. He has been commissioned numerous times by various local orchestras throughout the Cleveland area, including the Ohio Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Adams' work has also been performed by various symphonies both domestically and internationally, including in Prague and Iceland.
Additionally, Dr. Adams has served as a guest composer at the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, at national conventions of the African American Art Song Alliance and other locations. In 2008, he was notably selected as a music panelist on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts. Apart from his commissions and guest appearances, Dr. Adams has worked as a piano accompanist for various ballet and dance companies.
Boasting an extensive portfolio, some of Dr. Adams compositions have included "VOX Showcase" at the New York City Opera Company and "Blake (Piano-Percussion Version)" at the Municipal Company of Baltimore Inc. He also composed "Righteous Man," "The Wider Views," "Dunbar Songs" and "Daybirth," among others. Meanwhile, several of Dr. Adams' orchestral works have been performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Savannah Symphony and the Detroit Symphony.
Dr. Adams was additionally active as the associate music director of the Karamu House in Cleveland, the oldest African-American theater in the U.S., and the music director for the Kaleidoscope Players, a performing arts theater in Raton, New Mexico. He also taught at the academic level at Florida A&M University as an assistant professor of music beginning in 1968. Dr. Adams further flourished as an associate professor of music, the director of the university concert choir and the director of choral clinics at the University of Kansas School of Music between 1970 and 1978.
Dr. Adams studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, earning a Bachelor of Arts in music in 1955. He later obtained a Master of Arts in music at California State University in 1964 and a Doctor of Philosophy in music at The Ohio State University in 1974. Prior to his years in college, Dr. Adams trained in piano and theory with Dorothy Smith and Mina Eichenbaum and voice with John Howard Tucker.
A member of several prominent professional organizations, Dr. Adams has maintained his involvement with the American Choral Directors Association and the American Guild of Organists. He is also an advisory council member of the Music Arts Association and an honorary member of the American Composers Alliance of Broadcast Music Inc. Dr. Adams has been designated as a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Delta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda as well.
Dr. Adams received a National Education Defense Act fellowship from 1969 to 1970. He later accepted a Yaddo Artists' Colony fellowship from 1980 to 1984, a Cleveland Foundation fellowship in 1980 and a Jennings Foundation fellowship in 1981. In recognition of his success as a musician and composer, he was presented with the Cleveland Arts Prize Life Achievement Award in 2015. Other accolades to his credit have included a Distinguished Alumnus Award from California State University in 2006 and a Legacy Award from the National Opera Association in 2006. A celebrated Marquis listee, Dr. Adams has been featured in multiple editions of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in the Midwest.
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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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