John “Adidam” Littlejohn is a violinist and hip-hop artist. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory where he completed a Master of Music degree and a Graduate Performance Diploma in violin performance with Herbert Greenberg, after completing a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Michigan. He has served as the concertmaster of the Newark Symphony and has been a member of numerous orchestras and ensembles including the Baltimore Opera Orchestra. As a soloist he has performed with orchestras and given recitals throughout North America and Europe.
John has been a string pedagogue for over 20 years. While in graduate school he received specialized training in violin pedagogy and curriculum development from Rebecca Henry, co-chair of the Peabody Preparatory String Department. John aims to inspire, engage, and equip each student through a unique curriculum that combines the methodology of Shinichi Suzuki and Paul Roland, with teachings of Joseph Gingold, Ivan Galamian, Demetrius Dounis, Otakar Sevcik, Henry Schradiek, Jazz Improvisation, and some original tools developed through experience. His students have won competitions and have gone on study music in University.
“Adidam”, which is an acronym for “All Day I Dream About Music,” has released three full-length albums, “Violinistik”, “All Day I Dream About Music,” and his latest release, “Caterpillar Chronicles.” Tim Smith, music critic of the Baltimore Sun, called his music “distinctive” with “tightly rhymed lyrics,” and a VH1 entertainment journalist called his compositions “extremely original and magnificently arranged and played.”
He is a currently a member of Infinitus, a genre-bending, beatboxing string trio, performing education and community performances throughout North America and Asia. Infinitus recently completed a successful string of over 10 performances at the Lincoln Center in New York, NY.
As an active proponent of music outreach, John teaches violin at the St. James Music Academy, a music school in the downtown eastside of Vancouver that provides free instruction to low-income music students. He is the director of the Thrive City String Boot Camp, a tuition-free intensive retreat for intermediate to advanced string players. He is also on the faculty of the Vancouver Academy of Music and the Delta Community Music School.