Camden Central School District -

CAMDEN, NY - 23 students from the Camden Middle School music department will have the exciting honor of representing their school and community at the 2026 Madison County Music Educators’ Association Winter All-County Festival. Due to a weather-related school closure at the host district, and some other participating districts, this year’s festival has been condensed into a one day event on Saturday, January 17th at Chittenango High School.

This remarkable opportunity brings together top performing students from Madison County and Western Oneida County for the opportunity to collaborate and perform in select ensembles. The Association’s membership includes Brookfield, Camden, Canastota, Cazenovia, Chittenango, DeRuyter, Hamilton, Holy Cross, Madison, Morrisville-Eaton, Oneida, Stockbridge Valley, and Vernon Verona Sherrill.

Students are selected through a competitive process. Students participating in the 7th and 8th grade choir participate in an audition, held back in October. Students in the 5th and 6th grade groups were put forth based on teacher recommendations, with final selections determined by a committee of music teachers in the region.

Selected musicians begin preparing music at home and school before convening for combined rehearsals at the festival, and the groups will need to come together quickly with performances set for the same day.

Congratulations to the following students on their selections!

5th and 6th Grade Band: Emma Knowland, Elena Hood, Layton Wallenbeck

5th and 6th Grade Orchestra: Isabelle Calkins, Sadie Barringer, Nora Fuentes, Sonya Spink, Aryanna Ventura, Lyla Hansen, Oliver Barnett, Meyah Hathaway, Jayden Bennett, Jasmine Sharp, McKenzie Lynn Boyce, Mia Cartwright, Leia Johnson, Brazlyn Lefter, Arizona Burleigh, Kyra Wiediger.

7/8 Chorus: Annabelle Mikitin, Rachyl Bray, Dante Roselli, Kyla Sommerville