Adam Claussen

 

Performer || Composer

AVAILABLE NOW

ABOUT ADAM

Originally from New Hampshire in the United States, Adam Claussen is a composer, performer, and teacher based in Lübeck, Germany with a B.M. in jazz performance and M.M. in film music.  During his undergraduate studies in jazz saxophone at University of Miami, Adam shared the stage playing saxophone, flute, and clarinet with the likes of Quincy Jones, Maria Schneider, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Grusin, Adam Rogers, Tom Scott, and John Williams among many others.  In 2017 and 2019, Adam received two Student Downbeat Awards for his original compositions “All Bets Are Off” and “Minor Conniption”, and in 2017 he was named the winner of the BMI William Golstein Scholarship for outstanding work in the field of jazz composition.  In February 2019, Adam released his debut album as a bandleader and saxophonist entitled Arethusa Falls, featuring original works for jazz quintet.   

In 2022, Adam graduated with a masters degree in film music from Conservatorium van Amsterdam having composed the soundtracks for several short films produced by the Netherlands Film Academy: De Hemelse Bloem (doc, Tessa van der Riet), Joan’s Theme (fiction, Kiefer Eijckelhof), and Entertain Me (fiction, Beek Groot).  The original soundtrack for Joan's Theme won the 2022 Keep an Eye Filmscore Award during the week of its premiere at the 2022 Keep an Eye Filmacademie Festival.  Ranging widely from jazz to orchestral to pop, the music from each film is available on all streaming sites, and can be found under the "listen" tab above.  Adam has also featured as a session musician on the albums Nothing but Love (Just Friends 2018), and There, Back, a Tiny Hat (Fourth Degree 2021) as well as on the soundtracks of numerous short films which you can read about here.

After composing music for the dance sequences choreographed by Thu Hang Pham in De Hemelse Bloem, Adam began a collaboration with international Dutch-Brazilian choreographer Anderson Carvalho.  Their first collaboration, When I Left the Room, "is a research dance performance of bodies that acknowledge their interdependency. A reflection on identity, culture, and human relationships. Inside a “room” the bodies negotiate possibilities of being in togetherness and physically experimenting, exploring notions of adaptation, agency, and connectedness." [quote from Anderson Carvalho]  It received critical acclaim at its premiere in Capetown, South Africa, and has since seen multiple performances worldwide.

 

 

In 2023, Carvalho and Claussen worked on the sequel collaboration, Intimacy of the Skin, which continued the exploration of the previous work's themes even further, with more research into techniques such as lighting and projection, and more embedded and heartfelt forms of storytelling and philosophy.  In July 2023, Carvalho and Claussen collaborated on a third work together with MindLeaps, entitled "Unseen"- the personal story of the MindLeaps dancers which premiered at the Ubumuntu Arts Festival in Kigali Rwanda.  As a part of the development process for the duo's latest collaboration "Silent Symphony of Feelings", a new work was commissioned and workshopped by dancers at Stichting Dox in Utrecht, Netherlands.  The new 5-Minute research piece was performed in January 2024 as a prelude to "Silent Symphony of Feelings", which premiered at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa in June 2024.  As a part of the 2024 edition of Dance Intersect, this piece saw Adam share the stage for the first time with the dancers, performing saxophone live with a pre-recorded soundtrack.  You can find more about Adam's work in the field of dance & theater here.

 

 

Adam is currently based in Lübeck, Germany, where he composes, produces, & teaches music part-time from his apartment studio and at Lübecker Musikschule and Kreismusikschule Ostholstein, while performing and collaborating with musicians across Europe.  In August 2023, Adam performed in the premiere of new solo and chamber ensemble works by Iranian composer Mojan Alaiyeh to a large audience at the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam.  More recently, Adam was comissioned to compose a collection of short film music pieces for saxophone & piano for the 2024 Jugend Musiziert competition in Lübeck, as well as several wind ensemble arrangements for the Sinfonisches Blasorchester.  Adam's latest arrangements for SBR were performed at the ensemble's Symphonic Gospel Konzert at Musik- und Kongresshalle Lübeck, on April 20th, 2024.  In 2025, SBR will be performing Mamma Mia! live to film at the MuK on June 22.  This performance will feature several arrangements by Adam, alongside many by director Christoph Liedtke.  If you are interested in a collaboration, need a composer or music producer, or would like to inquire about private lessons, you can reach Adam here.

curriculum vitae

Film- composer credits

 

Adam's IMDb page

 

Theater & Dance 

  • 220 Loops (2025) choreography by Anderson Carvalho, performed by the students of Codarts Rotterdam

  • Silent Symphony of Feelings (2024) choreography by Anderson Carvalho, performed by ACDC & Adam Claussen

  • Unseen (2023) choreography by Anderson Carvalho, performed by MindLeaps Rwanda

  • Intimacy of the Skin (2023) choreography by Anderson Carvalho, performed by ACDC

  • When I Left the Room (2022) choreography by Anderson Carvalho, performed by ACDC

  • De Hemelse Bloem (2022) choreography by Thu Hang Pham, directed by Tessa van der Riet

 

Film- studio musician credits

  • Groeipijn / Motion Sickness (2025) short fic., dir. Jottum Kok, comp. Mojan Alaiyeh [clarinet]

  • De Boys van de Barbara / The Boys of the Barbara (2024) short doc, dir. Fabienne Boekel, comp. Mojan Alaiyeh [clarinet]

  • Morgen doen we het beter (2024) short fic, dir. Jattum Kok, comp. Mojan Alaiyeh [clarinet, alto sax]

  • Candy & Bonita (2023) feature fic, dir. Nienke Römer [flute]

  • Over een Pastor op Regenlaarzen (2022) short fic, dir. Wessel van Wanrooij, comp. Mojan Alaiyeh [clarinet]

  • Filho (2022) short doc, dir. Tomas Ponsteen, comp. Mojan Alaiyeh [alto sax]

  • This is Your Captain Speaking (2022) short fic, dir. Idriss Nabil, comp. Alexandros Tomagian [tenor sax, flute]

  • LOUDER! SO I CAN HEAR YOU (2022) short doc, dir. Laura Bokhoven, comp. Alexandros Tomagian [alto sax]

  • Bajo la Superficie (2021) short doc, dir. Thomas Ponsteen, comp. Alexandros Tomagian [clarinet]

 

Albums- composer/bandleader credits

 

Albums- side musician credits

 

Education

  • MM Film Music (2022) Conservatorium van Amsterdam
  • BM Studio Music & Jazz (2019) University of Miami Frost School of Music

 

Accolades

  • 2022 Keep an Eye Filmscore Award for best soundtrack (Joan's Theme)
  • 2022 International Horror Hotel Star Award Honorable Mention (Film Score)
  • 2020 Student Downbeat Award: Graduate Small Jazz Combo- The Frost Septet Spring Group (alto saxophone)

  • 2019 Student Downbeat Award: Undergraduate Original Composition (small ensemble) for "Minor Conniption"

  • 2017 Student Downbeat Award: Undergraduate Original Composition (small ensemble) for "All Bets are Off"

  • 2017 BMI Foundation William Golstein Scholarship for outstanding work in the field of jazz composition