The North High music program has a long and storied history of training outstanding musicians.  The program even won a Grammy in the high school program category about a dozen years ago (also see story in the Alumni section below for its most recent Grammy).

This year is no exception, as Viking musicians have won honors in All-City, All-State, and even All-Northwest musical groups.

The orchestra had four students so honored for the All City Honors Orchestra:  Claire Dietz (jr), cello; Uriel Mejia (so), Viola; Roxanne Adams (jr), viola; and Juana Lopez Duran (sr), viola.  The latter two students were also chosen for the All State Honors Orchestra.

The Band also placed four outstanding instrumentalists in the All City Honors Band:  David Ramos (jr), bass clarinet; Lilly Watts (sr), french horn; Nathan Compton (fr), alto sax; and Julie Schwab (sr), oboe.

Choir musicians placed a large number of students in the Honors ensembles:  altos Stephanie Bake, Olga Valdez, Rosa Borrego, and Sadie Leos; tenors Ramon Rebolledo, Aziz Augusto, Jacob Mayes, Jensen Muhs, Sterling Sawyer, and Nicholas Turner; and basses Quillie Borner, Oscar Lemaza, Joshua White, Derek Elliot, Michael Horman, Quentin Lamping, and Austin Minick were chosen for All City.  Jacob Mayes, Stephanie Baker, and Olga Valdez also were selected for both the All State Honors Choir as well as the All Northwest honors Choir!  

Congratulations to all these outstanding musicians who are representing North High so well!

Upcoming music performance dates, all in the North High Auditorium unless otherwise noted:

Feb. 8-Sat.-West Jazz Festival (choral) - West Salem High School - all day, but North performs at 2;30 pm

Feb. 15 - Sat. - High School All City Honors Music Concert (choir, band and orchestra) 7 pm

Feb. 20 - Thurs.- North Area Band Concert (elementary, middle school, and high school) 7 pm

Mar. 16 - Sat.- All Northwest Honors Choir - Seattle (contact North High for the venue and time

Sports and other activities

To find out what else is going on at the high school, click on the link in the upper left for the North High website.

North High alumna wins Grammy!

We've had stories before about North High Hall of Famer Audrey Luna, the coloratura soprano opera singer, but Saturday, Audrey and the Metropolitan Opera cast of Thomas Ades' The Tempest won the Grammy for Best Opera Recording for the year.  Miss Luna plays one of the lead roles as Ariel, the spirit who serves Prospero, the banished duke ruling over an enchanted island.  The Met's production of the groundbreaking opera was broadcast in theaters worldwide in November 2012.

Operating Funds

In December we started a fundraiser to raise enough money for our ongoing expenses, which are largely scholarships and grants to students and to North Salem High School.  As we do not charge dues, we are reliant on the good will and financial support of voluntary donors like you to keep our support of the school and its alumni going.   Our initial response has been good, but we are still short of our goal.

If you have not yet sent in a tax-deductible donation and are willing to do so, there are three ways to do it:  return the form and envelope mailed to you in December, go on line at our webpage (see link in upper right of this newsletter) and click on the "Donation" tab, or mail directly care of the school:

Viking Association

c/o North Salem High School

765 14th St. NE

Salem OR 97301

For tax purposes we will need your full name and address.  Without your help we cannot continue as a viable alumni association.  Every donation, whatever the size, will help.  THANK-YOU!  THANK-YOU Vikings!

It is nearing the time when selection will be made for the next class of the North Salem / Salem High School Hall of Fame. One individual will be chosen from each of four categories (Achievement, Athletics, Distinguished Lifetime, and Service). Only the latter can be someone who did not attend Salem or North Salem High School such as a teacher or community individual who made significant contributions to the school and its students.

We need more nominations especially in the Service category.  If you remember an especially good teacher who should be honored, this is the kind of person we are seeking. 

Nomination forms may be found on the Viking Association website (see link in upper left corner of this newsletter). You can view previous inductees as well as a description of the categories.  As this is a highly competitive selection, please provide as much supporting information about the nominees as you can. Individuals and teams nominated in past years are still considered in the running.

Honor Role

We are adding a new feature to our newsletter and webpage.  We are calling it the Honor Role.  When you click on the link below, you can see the first entry, a brief story about Audrey Luna.  The Honor Role will feature alumni of Salem and North Salem High who have received honors or who have performed services to their communities, the nation, the world, or North High.  We will publish them by class, so you can conveniently look up classmates.  But we will need your help!  There are no stories without story-tellers, so you will need to send in honors you have received or acts of service you have recently performed or stories about Vikings you know who should be mentioned in our new feature.  We hope it catches on, because our alumni are involved in a lot of things.  We will keep the clips up for about a year.  Send in your entries to Steve Chambers at the e-mail address in the left sidebar or at the bottom of the page.  Digital photos are welcome.

 Link:   HONOR ROLE