“Michael Cameron has a reputation as one of the most promising of the world’s bassists in both traditional and contemporary repertoire...” wrote the Strad (London). He has premiered dozens of works for bass, including pieces by Ben Johnston, Allan Segall, Violeta Dinescu, Yehuda Yannay, Herbert Brun, Erik Lund, Andrew Simpson, Stephen Taylor and many others. He has also performed a number of American premiers, among them works by Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, Gyorgy Kurtag, Luciano Berio, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gavin Bryars and others.
Cameron has appeared in over 20 recordings, beginning with his debut on Gasparo with Claude Baker’s “Hommage e Fantasie” (“...this one’s a beauty...” Fanfare). His 1996 record ing on the Zuma label (Progression) includes works by Bach, Hindemith, Johnston, Segall, and Shostakovich. “Cameron strikes me as an unusually fine player”, wrote the Ameri can Record Guide. “All of this material is performed with remarkable polish...The Hindemith is outstanding...”. The Strad added “...Cameron performs with panache and flair... all these pieces are dispatched with chameleon-like facility of style and understanding.” His disc Basso Solo includes unaccompanied works of Bach, Donatoni, Berio, Perle, Morton, and Thelonius Monk. “A fascinating recital for the serious listener...” wrote the American Record Guide. “Cameron demonstrates a real mastery of the art of pizzicato and a fine control of rhythm and vibrato.” In a review of Andrew Simpson’s “Exhortations II”, the Double Bassist wrote “Cameron demonstrates awesome mastery of its substantialleft and right hand challenges”. He has also recorded three discs of works by Anthony Braxton and Guillermo Gregorio for the Hat Art label (...fresh, vibrant and adventuresome... 4 stars, Downbeat). A new disc of music by Thomas Fredrickson was released in 2011, and a recording of sonatas will be released on Albany Records in 2014. His Sonata Project initiative is an endeavor devoted to research on existing double bass sonatas and commissioning substantial works for double bass and piano.
Cameron has performed in tours with the Ensemble Modern, including one under composer John Adams. He has performed in the Edinburgh Festival, June in Buffalo, Asian Contemporary Music Festival (Seoul), Musikfestwochen (Lucerne), the National Gallery of Art in Washington, London’s Warehouse He has given dozens of master classes at major music schools (Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin, Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, University of Michigan, Royal Conservatory of Music in London) and International Society of Bassists conventions, including a headline recital at the 2011 convention in San Francisco. More than fifty of his arrangements and editions are published by BassScores Editions. “BassScores Editions has an impressive catalog...these attractive editions are well laid out and clearly printed...” (Bass World).
He is an active free-lance writer, with over 300 articles published in the Chicago Tribune, Fanfare, American String Teachers, and Bass World. He attended Indiana University, studying with Murray Grodner, Barry Green, Lucas Drew and Stuart Sankey. He was appointed National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Visiting Professor at the State University of New York at Potsdam for the fall of 1996. His is Professor of Double Bass at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.