Michael Cameron 1959-2022
Michael Joseph Cameron, a music professor, double-bass player and critic, died on his 63rd birthday July 13 following a long illness.
The New York native was born in Utica in 1959 and grew up in Hudson Falls, graduating from Hudson Falls High School with several academic and athletic honors.
He began learning the double-bass in high school and played with the Albany Symphony Orchestra while still in his teens. He studied with Murray Grodner at Indiana University where he graduated in 1983 with bachelor and master of music degrees.
He taught at West Texas State University and Baylor University before joining the University of Illinois in Urbana in 1986 where he taught for 25 years before retiring in 2021.
Cameron began writing as a freelance critic for the Chicago Tribune in 2000 where he wrote over a hundred reviews of concerts and CDs through 2009. He joined the Chicago Classical Review roster in 2010 a year after it was launched and wrote for CCR through 2018, contributing scores of incisive reviews that were notable for elegant writing, candor and, often, dry wit.
Michael was as renown for his gourmet cooking as he was for his beloved dogs.
His parents Raymond and Margaret predeceased him in 2003 and 2011, respectively. His sister Susan died in 2020. Cameron is survived by eight nieces and nephews: two grand-nieces; and numerous cousins.
A celebration of Michael Cameron’s life will be held at the Strand Theater in Hudson Falls, 10-11:30 a.m. August 21, followed by a reception at the theater.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Strand Theater and to Unity Palliative Care and Hospice in Chicago.
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