Seven seniors from OIHS Class of 2025 lettered for school music excellence

||| FROM SHARON HO for MUSIC ADVOCACY GROUP |||

Orcas Island has demonstrated that a small, rural, public high school can indeed provide many opportunities for young minds to pursue a variety of passions and excel. A foundational music education is one of them.

Among this year’s cohort of graduates, seven are student musicians who have dedicated themselves to the rigor and practice of learning to play a musical instrument throughout all four years of high school. They are: Forest Frausto, Henry Walker, and Calvin Saxe, in the band program, and Scarlett Coffey, Solianna Halabisky, Dagny Kruger, and Kristian Freeman, in strings.

At their final All-District Band and All-District String concerts of the school year, all seven students received letters for their musical excellence. Kristian was awarded the National School Orchestra Award to recognize excellence in playing and contributions to the ensemble.

These graduating seniors have devoted hours to performing in concerts and representing Orcas Island at numerous competitions, honor events, and fundraisers. Many of these events required off-island travel and the sacrifice of weekends and free time.

At a regional strings festival earlier this year, Orcas Island Strings received a rating of 1+, the second-highest score among the 15 competing schools. At the American String Teachers Association competition in March, the high school strings received an ‘Excellent’ rating (Silver award). The high school band achieved a ‘Superior’ rating at the Senior Band Festival at Western Washington University.

Not only are they musicians, they are competitive athletes and talented performers, who also volunteer their time or work after school, all while keeping up with their academic workload.

Music has been a constant companion in their high school experience. This is made possible by a music-loving island community that has helped Music Advocacy Group sustain a quality music program at the public school for more than two decades by providing funds for travel to competitions and festivals, access to musical instruments and equipment, and advocating for in-school music education for all students.

The many life skills honed from learning music, such as focus, self-confidence, creative expression, and persistence, are the gifts that this talented group of musicians will take with them on their next adventures.

Congratulations to the Orcas Island High School Class of 2025!

About the Music Advocacy Group
MAG champions and helps sustain the Orcas Island public school music program. MAG is a 501(c)(3) organization that is 100% community funded. School music matters!