At the age of four, Adam Riggs started studying the cello with Sally Gross former cello teacher of the Suzuki String School of Guelph. In 1992, his third year of competing in the annual Guelph Kiwanis Festival, he received his first monetary award and received one every year until 2002, when he stopped competing. In 1995 at the Guelph Kiwanis Festival, Adam was the youngest performer and only cellist to win the “Alice Sloane Memorial Scholarship” when it was still a competition, which was the biggest award given at the festival. He also won the Senior Strings award at the Hamilton Kiwanis Music Festival in 2001. From 1998 to 2000, Adam was a winner at the Ontario Music Festivals Association (OMFA) at the graded division from grade 9 to diploma (pre-ARCT). In 2001, he again represented Guelph in the OMFA at the open level and was awarded first place. Later that year he went on to represent Ontario in the Canadian Federation of Music Festivals National Finals.

Adam has attended many summer music programs including, the Guelph Suzuki Institute, the Montreal Suzuki Institute, the South-Western Ontario Suzuki Institute (SOSI), Festival Orford studying with Guy Fouquet former principal cellist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute (SOCMI) studying with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Penderecki String Quartet, Alcan String Quartet and members of the Orford String Quartet, and the Banff Centre, where he has studied with Mr. Aldo Parisot and Shauna Rolston and had coachings with pianist Julian Martin from the Julliard School of Music. Recently, with his quartet, Adam has had master classes with members of the Emerson and Julliard String Quartets. Over the years he has collaborated with many pianists and string players in many different chamber music roles.

In his first year at Wilfrid Laurier University, he won the highly competitive concerto competition. In November of 2003, Adam's performance of the final movement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor was considered to be one of the best performances given by a student at Laurier in a great number of years. In October of 2006, Adam was presented with a Bachelor of Music, Honours Performance degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is currently pursuing a Diploma in Chamber music from Wilfrid Laurier before applying for a masters degree.

At age 23, Adam formerly a student of Paul Pulford former cellist of the Penderecki String Quartet, continues his third year of studies with Simon Fryer, current cellist of the Penderecki String Quartet. A top entrance scholarship student at Wilfrid Laurier University, Adam’s aspirations in life include a solo cello career, chamber music, playing in a symphony orchestra, teaching music at the University level and conducting. Adam plays on a Micheal D. Goronok cello made in 1995 using a Bernard Walke Bow.