Melbourne composer, sound artist and music technologist Stephen Stelios Adam has died after a long illness. He was 66.
Adam died on Wednesday 19 August, leaving behind a body of work spanning electroacoustic composition, electronic music, sound engineering, teaching, performance and music technology.
His career included work with the ABC, La Trobe University and Monash University, as well as collaborations with musicians, composers and contemporary arts organisations across Australia.
He was also a member of Melbourne electronic group The Informatics, which was part of an early generation of artists exploring analogue synthesis, electronic sound and audiovisual performance.
For much of his career, Adam worked at the intersection of technology and music, developing electronic systems and software that allowed performers to interact with and manipulate sound in live performance.
His long association with contemporary music organisation Astra included commissions and premieres of numerous electroacoustic and notated works.
In a statement posted to Facebook Astra said Adam had been a significant part of its community for decades.
“Steve’s connection with Astra extended far beyond his work as a composer,” it said.
“As a regular and enthusiastic audience member, former member of the Astra Choir, and much-loved presence within our community, he contributed immeasurably to Astra’s life and culture.
“Steve led a distinguished life in music.”
Astra’s most recent collaboration with Adam was Dhen íme edhó filakizméni (I Am Not Imprisoned Here), performed by the Astra Choir with electronic sound in October 2024.
The work drew on Adam’s Greek family background and his interest in politics and electronic music. It set a Greek-language poem written in prison in the 1950s by his great-aunt Greek writer and activist Elli Pappa.
Astra said the work brought together several aspects of Adam’s musical practice.
“It brought together several of Steve’s interests – in politics, his Greek family background, and the interpenetration of music performance and a living electronic medium,” it said.
“The impact on listeners was physical and memorable.”
Adam’s Greek heritage also featured in his work with Pavlos Andronikos, Associate at Monash University and President of SEKA Victoria.
Andronikos first met Adam when he was working as a lecturer in the Department of Music at Monash University. The pair later worked together on the anthology of Greek-Australian songs In a Strange Land / Επί Γης Αλλοτρίας, with Adam serving as co-producer and sound engineer.
Andronikos recalled Adam’s technical ability and his approach to sound.
“Working with him I learnt that he had astonishingly keen hearing, and could analyse sounds with great precision,” he said.
The production of the anthology was demanding, with the pair spending numerous evenings working on the recordings.
“For myself, I treasure the memory of the many evenings when we sat together in front of his computer, and Stephen mixed the songs of the anthology while I watched, commented, and learnt,” Andronikos said.
The project also introduced Andronikos to Adam’s work in electroacoustic music.
“Stephen introduced me to his speciality, which he called electroacoustic music, and I called ‘noise music’,” he said.
“I went along to a number of concerts featuring this strange music, and discovered that Stephen’s electroacoustic compositions stood out from the other ‘noiseworks’ for their rich complexity and emotion.”
Andronikos said Adam was recognised internationally in the field.
“In this his chosen field he was a leader—an acknowledged world leader,” he said.
The pair’s final collaboration came in 2024, when Andronikos helped translate the Greek poem by Pappa.
It was in a book she had given to him when he visited family in Greece as a young man. His other great-aunt was of course Pappa’s sister Greek novellist, journalist and playwright Dido Sotiriou.
The poem, Δεν είμαι εδώ φυλακισμένη (I Am Not Imprisoned Here), was performed in Greek by the Astra Choir.
Andronikos recalled the response to the performance.
“The audience was spellbound listening to the gorgeous harmonies and textures,” he said.
“After the performance I overheard one member of the audience saying to Stephen, ‘I wanted it to go on forever!’
“Nothing goes on forever, does it, Steve!”
Kirsty Ellem, Director at Artistic Merit, had known Adam since the 1990s and worked with him on a number of contemporary music and arts projects.
She said Adam’s work often involved developing technology to create new ways of experiencing sound.
“He was sort of one of those very early music technologists who could, who existed at a time when that couldn’t happen, so you had to kind of create and solve that by writing your own program,” Ellem said.
Adam developed electronic soundscapes for site-specific works, worked on installations and created systems that allowed performers to manipulate sound through movement.
Ellem said he combined technical knowledge with composition and artistic practice.
“He had this extraordinary capacity to create the technology that would solve a technical problem and then create an extraordinary piece of art as well,” she said.
His collaborations included work with performers such as recorder player Genevieve Lacey and cellist Richard Narroway, as well as projects involving visual artists and other musicians.
SIAL Sound Studios, where Adam worked on projects including concerts, technical production and composition, also acknowledged his contribution to Melbourne’s contemporary music scene.
“Steve has been integral to contemporary music of Melbourne for many years and he will be greatly missed,” it posted on Facebook.
Adam’s work included composition for live performance, theatre and installations, as well as custom software and system design. He also worked with other artists to develop the technical elements of their projects.
Ellem said that while Adam had contributed to a wide range of projects, he rarely drew attention to his own achievements.
“He never blew his own trumpet, really. He didn’t even talk about all these extraordinary things that he was doing. He just did it,” she said.
A celebration of Adam’s life will be held at the Quadraphonic Club in Brunswick on Sunday 30 August.
