Adam Drese was born in the German state of Thuringia. He became a musician at the court of Duke Wilhelm IV of Saxe-Weimar in Weimar before being sent by the duke to Warsaw to study with Marco Scacchi. He returned to Weimar and was appointed as the duke's Kapellmeister in 1652. In 1662, after the death of Duke Wilhelm IV, the Hofkapelle was disbanded, the duke's son, duke Bernhard took Drese to Jena, where he appointed him as his Kapellmeister, secretary and also the town mayor from 1672. Despite Duke Bernhards's death in 1678, Drese remained in Jena until 1683 when he found another post as Kapellmeister, to the Count of Schwarzburg at Arnstadt. He remained in Arnstadt until his death in 1701.