The Camden Central School District and the Camden High School Music Department are pleased to announce that six students represented the District at the recent New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Zone 4 High School Area All-State Festival. This year’s festival was held on November 21st and 22nd at Central Valley Academy in Ilion.
Held each year, the Zone 4 Area All-State Festival brings together top performing music students from over 30 schools in Oswego, Oneida, and Herkimer Counties for two days of rehearsal, collaboration, and performance across band, choral, and orchestra disciplines. Each student has the opportunity to hone their craft while working under university instructors, and interacting with peers from across Central New York and the Mohawk Valley Region. The ensembles rehearse all day Friday and into Saturday morning ahead of a public performance on Saturday afternoon.
To make it to this advanced stage, students audition at a NYSSMA Solo Festival during the previous school year. At the festival, they perform a prepared piece and other elements such as sight-reading exercises in front of distinguished adjudicators that evaluate and score each student’s work. The festival evaluations and scores are used to give constructive feedback for each student, and the top students are placed in Area All-State and All-State ensembles.
Adding to the excitement of this year’s festival was a return to the roots of the All-State Program. The inaugural All-State festival was held in Ilion back in 1943.
All six Camden participants for 2025 have attended Area All-State in consecutive years.Senior Larry Fiume has reached this stage in three straight years, and is also bound for the All-State Festival to be held from December 4th to 7th in Rochester.
Congratulations to the following students!
Orchestra:
Nevaeh Sharpe
Alivia Relyea
Olivia Wing
Chorus:
Mikinzie Collins
Garet Rocker
Band:
Larry Fiume
