Adam is Professor of Music and Director of the Applied Music Research Centre at the University of Roehampton in London. He has had a lifelong fascination for music, as a composer, performer, teacher and researcher. While attending the Royal Academy of Music, Adam started working with children with special needs - a number of whom, he noticed, had special musical abilities too - and he became interested in how we all intuitively make sense of music, without the need for formal education. Adam pursued this line of enquiry, and gained a PhD in music at Goldsmith's College in London in 1993, in which he set out his 'zygonic' theory of musical understanding. This theory has proved a valuable tool in music theory and analysis, in investigating musical development, and exploring interaction in music therapy and education. Adam is Secretary of the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research ('SEMPRE'), and Chair of Soundabout, an Oxfordshire-based charity.