A passion for music and being laid off from Eastern has prompted Cameron Craig to rediscover a prior love and release a vocal album, set to be released Aug. 16.

Craig, a faculty member in the geography department and a graduate student in music at Eastern, returned after 22 years to his musical studies after receiving a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in geography, both from Indiana State.

The title of the album, My Life as a Sonata: A Passion Recapitulated, comes from an essay Craig wrote for admission to the graduate program in the music department.

A-B-A, the form of a sonata, bears resemblance to his own life.

“I started out in music, then I went to humanities and sciences for my other degrees, then back into music again,” he said. “You present one theme, then you go to another theme and then you represent the initial theme again.”

When Craig was laid off last summer, Richard Rossi, director of orchestral and choral activities, told him he needed to be a graduate student in music.

When Rossi told Craig he needed to write an essay, he was unsure of what to do.

Then it dawned on him. “’My life is a sonata!’” he recounted.

His upcoming album isn’t his first – previous recordings featured music composed by him; Craig wanted to avoid the hassle of copyrights and royalties.

After being asked by everyone when he would be releasing a vocal album, Craig said it was “time to do something fun” and returned to his musical studies with Rossi and voice instructor Nicholas Provenzale.

Fifteen out of 16 songs are in the public domain. The 16th is Sure on this Shining Night, written by Samuel Barber. This song by Barber was sung by Craig as a freshman at Indiana State.

“I really hoped to include it on my album, for the first vocal album,” he said. “All the pieces come from when I studied music 22 years ago.”

Craig, a vocal tenor, is accompanied by Bart Rettberg on piano.

For more information on the upcoming album, visit Craig’s website.

Jason Howell can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].