Adam Miller

2/24/1947 - 2/4/2025
Adam left this life peacefully on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, age 77.

Adam was native to Washington, DC, and grew up in the Barnaby Woods section of the city. The Washington Cathedral Close was the setting for his schooling from nursery school at Beauvoir School through his five and a half years at St. Albans School. He finished his high school years at boarding school in England. Returning from abroad he attended Hampden-Sydney College for one semester; thereafter came a move to New York and an educational hiatus of twenty-four years devoted primarily to pop music, after which he entered Columbia University for two years; he then returned to Washington and completed his degree at Georgetown University.

During his active period in pop music Adam released two albums as songwriter and artist on Chelsea Records, a subsidiary of RCA, and wrote songs for a wide variety of projects, including songs for other artists, jingles, and children's television. Adam worked with producer Wes Farrell, writing songs for David Cassidy's albums Cherish and Rock Me Baby (both 1972). His song "The West Wind Circus" was covered by Helen Reddy on her fourth album Long Hard Climb (1973). He is lead vocalist on the song "The Soul of Patrick Lee" by John Cale, released on Cale's and Terry Riley's collaborative album Church of Anthrax in 1971.[2] He is also singing background vocals on Desertshore (1970) by Nico (produced by John Cale) and on Garland Jeffreys' 1973 eponymous debut album.

A Washington Cathedral chorister from age nine, Adam always spoke of his years as treble soloist in the Cathedral Choir under Paul Callaway and Richard Dirksen as formative to his musical impetus.

Upon his return to Washington Adam resumed choral singing with a variety of choral groups before coming home to the Washington Cathedral where he sang with the men's choir for many years.

In the late 1980s Adam experienced a spiritual epiphany of sorts and as a result he returned to school to become credentialed as a counselor to young people who he felt had suffered some of the same hazards as he growing up.

In his later working years Adam held a position as program manager at ESI International, a corporate training organization. Simultaneous with his ESI responsibilities he maintained the half-time position of Assistant Residential Counselor at Fairfax County Virginia Department of Mental Health.

Adam married and divorced in the 1980s. He leaves behind a daughter, the writer Kelsey Miller, son-in-law Harry Tanielyan, and granddaughter Margot; a brother, Glenn Miller; a sister, Shannon Miller Riffaud; a nephew, Adam Riffaud; a niece, Manon Riffaud; and his life-partner of many years, Cindy Johns.

Services Private. Memories may be shared at www.keeneybasford.com