Join us at the Greater Binghamton High School Musical Theatre Awards, where we honor the outstanding achievements of young performers in our community. Our annual event showcases the dedication and passion of students who bring magic to the stage. From captivating musical numbers to heartfelt acting, our awards ceremony recognizes excellence in every aspect of musical theatre. Be part of this unforgettable night filled with talent, creativity, and inspiration. Check out our workshop event schedule to engage with industry professionals and enhance your skills in the performing arts.
Possible Schedule of Events
Workshop Event
May 23-24, 2026
Day 1
Welcome
Icebreakers
Production Number Rehearsal
Lunch
Teambuilding
Master Class Rotation
Production Number Rehearsal
Day 2
Welcome
Production Number Rehearsal
Teambuilding
Lunch
Awards Ceremony Rehearsal
Dinner
Awards Ceremony Performance
Meet Our Workshop Staff
2025-2026 Inaugural Workshop Creative Staff
Music Director
Cameron Blake Kinnear
Cameron Blake Kinnear is a professional music director, conductor, pianist, vocal coach, arranger and orchestrator. Most recently he was the music director & conductor for the national tour of KINKY BOOTS. Prior to that he spent 5 years as the music director & conductor for the broadway national tour of CHICAGO. He has worked with Disney, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and regional theatre’s across the country his favorites include Tuacahn Center for the Arts and Lake Dillon Theatre Company. He specializes in working with youth vocalists and dancers in the genres of musical theatre, pop, rock and jazz. Cameron also has spent several years working with non-profit arts organizations, and currently serves as the Artistic Producer for Tri-Town Theatre Inc. in Sidney NY. (Cameronblakekinnear.com)
Choreographer
Maria Pomares
Maria Pomares (she/her) is a dedicated creator, performer, and scholar. She is currently a Doctor of Physical Therapy student at the University of Delaware. She is a 2025 graduate of Shenandoah University (SU) with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science with minors in Physiology and Biology. During her time at SU, she had the opportunity to work with notable guest artists such as Mike Esperanza, Ehizoje Azeke, Ballet Hispánico, and Lauren Carnesi Daniels. Maria also performed works by faculty members: Tiffanie Carson, Dr. Ting-Yu Chen, Erica Helm, Daniel Padierna, Maurice Fraga, and Katherine Zukeri. In 2024, she traveled to Greece for a Global Experiential Learning trip to attend a contact improvisation intensive led by Maurice Fraga and to perform for various local audiences across the country. Professionally, she has choreographed numerous high school musical productions, including Hadestown: Teen Edition (2026), Disney’s Newsies (2025), Big Fish (2024), Mamma Mia! (2023), and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (2022). Maria continues her artistic endeavors as a dancer with the MADE Dance Collective, directed by Maggie DeFrees, as a dance teacher at New Castle Dance and Music Academy, and as a guest instructor at Perkins School of the Arts.
Accompanist
Ben Kapilow
Ben Kapilow works as Assistant Professor/Music Director for the Performing Arts Department at SUNY Cortland. Prior to SUNY Cortland, he spent 7 years working as Resident Music Director of Media Theatre for the Performing Arts, an Equity theatre in the Philadelphia area. He has also worked as a music director and pianist at The Rev, Syracuse Stage, Walnut Street Theatre, Candlelight Theatre, Fulton Theatre, and Temple University. In December 2025 he will play keyboard in the National Tour of Wicked.
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As a composer, his works have been published by Chorister's Guild, Alfred Music, and Heritage Press, and his piece "The Bells" was selected for JW Pepper's Editor's Choice in 2024. He also wrote seven musicals for the Media Theatre, and his musical adaptation of Peter Pan and Wendy was performed at the A.C.T. of Connecticut. His current project, Pages Behind, received a partial reading by Theatre on the Verge in Philadelphia.
Active in education, he has presented at the Pennsylvania Music Teacher's Association Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and the Expand Online Summit, and he has been featured on the TopCast Podcast, Josh Wright Piano Podcast, Piano Pantry Podcast, the Piano Parent Podcast, and Pianist Academy. He has published articles in Piano Magazine and the Colourful Keys Blog. He hosted a podcast called "All Keyed Up" from 2021-2022 that at its height had 17,000 subscribers. In 2026 he will present at the Music Teachers National Association Conference.
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He received an MM in Music Composition from the Peabody Institute and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College with a BA in Music and Psychology.
Rehearsal Pianist
Jonh Isenberg
John Isenberg, an Endicott native, has performed many musical styles and genres. In the Musical Theater world, he has been the pianist for productions of Little Women, Next To Normal, Young Frankenstein, The Rocky Horror Show, South Pacific, and Little Shop of Horrors with various local companies. John is currently a pianist and vocal coach with the Voice Department and Opera Workshop program at Binghamton University. From 2001-2012 he was also Staff Pianist for Tri-Cities Opera, playing for the main stage productions as well as the education outreach shows throughout New York state and parts of Pennsylvania. John has also been involved with church music his entire life, and is currently the organist for All Saints Episcopal Church in Johnson City, as well as St. Mark's Episcopal in Chenango Bridge.
Master Class Instructor - Dance
Anthony Wayne
A man of many sides as an actor, producer and creator, Anthony Wayne has been blessed to do what he's been born to do. Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, Mr. Wayne was last seen this winter as Store Manager in "ELF - THE MUSICAL" at The Fulton Theatre after being featured in NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP's Production of "LIGHTS OUT: NAT "KING" COLE" Starring Dulé Hill. Broadway stints include performing as Raymond, Tina Turner’s first love interest in “TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL, “TOOTSIE – The Musical”, "ANYTHING GOES", “PIPPIN”, "ONCE ON THIS ISLAND" and "PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT”. His touring credits include "A CHORUS LINE" as Richie Walters, "THE COLOR PURPLE" and "FAME-THE MUSICAL" as Tyrone Jackson.
After sold out runs Off-Broadway and across the country, he has been in development of bringing his show "MIGHTY REAL: A FABULOUS SYLVESTER MUSICAL" to Broadway; the musical based on the life of 1970’s disco legend SYLVESTER. In MIGHTY REAL, Mr. Wayne stars as SYLVESTER and has, also, co-written the show.
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Mr. Wayne resides in Harlem, New York and contributes his time inspiring Black men of the Broadway and theatre community to find the greatness within themselves to be great on a daily basis. That work inspired him to found the 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization BLACK BROADWAY MEN which celebrates, educates and motivates black men of the Broadway & theatre community by creating unity within each other, finding strength through educational opportunities and embraces the legacy of those that have come before us because we are the legacy for those to come after us.
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​He is a firm believer of creating moments and memories with those he truly cares about and makes time with his chosen & blood family a priority. He, also, believes that the stage is his platform to allow his light to shine bright and his voice to be loud. That inspiration drives him daily and he plans to shine that light no matter what. Follow Mr. Wayne at www.MrAWayne.com or @mrawayne.com
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Master Class Instructor - Song Interpretation
Tommy Iafrate
Tommy Iafrate is a stage director, musical director, arts educator, and musician who is thrilled to engage in these many passions as the Director of Musical Theatre at Binghamton University. He has directed and music directed productions around the world, and continues to freelance in these arenas outside academia.
Iafrate has served as the Producing Artistic Director of Illinois’ Festival 56, Iowa’s Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, and Rhode Island’s Kaleidoscope Theatre. He has directed, music directed, or performed with Theatre by the Sea, the Barnstormers Theatre, Infinity Theatre Company, the
Cider Mill Playhouse, Tri-Cities Opera, Seagle Festival, Thunder Bay Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. His favorite performance experience was touring the United States, Canada, Korea, and Japan in Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall's Cabaret.
In 2018, Iafrate was a guest Musical Theatre Director in Residence at the Beijing Dance
Academy in China, and previously toured several cities in China. As an instrumentalist, he performs on piano, saxophone, clarinet, flute, and oboe. He is on the executive committee for the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance and is a proud member of the Honor Society of Phi
Kappa Phi, the Golden Key International Honour Society, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Iafrate is the coordinator of the Musical Theatre Intensive (MTI) for Region 2 of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and serves as music director/ mentor for the MTI fellows at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which he has also
attended as a directing fellow through the SDC Directing Initiative. He holds an MFA in directing from Western Illinois University and a BA in musical theatre and in physics from Rhode Island College.