At the High School: Choir’s Voices Soar at Competition

The North Marion High School choir built up their musical prowess during the annual OSAA 4A High School Choral Tri-Valley Competition held on April 7 in Stayton — and they’ll be performing locally in May and June.

Tri-Valley gives each school choir the chance to perform in front of each other and receive feedback from three judicators. The top-scoring choirs advance to the state competition. 

“We did not qualify for state this year, however the festival was a positive and valuable learning experience for myself and for my students,” North Marion Choir Director John Haddon said. “We learned how to improve in terms of trying to achieve more blend and balance, vowel clarity, as well as riser positioning.” 

The choir performed the classic spiritual, “City Called Heaven” by Josephine Poelinitz, as well as English vocalist Sam Smith’s hit number, “I Know I'm Not the Only One,” a showpiece on Smith’s debut studio album, “In the Lonely Hour.”

“Our festival performance also included two amazing and passionate solos sung by tenth-grade student Maddy Pranz and eleventh-grade student Kamron Anderson,” Haddon noted.

The High School Choir will perform again at the upcoming May Day festival at 7 p.m. May 6 in Gym 2 of the High School, and then at the Spring Music Concert at 7 p.m. June 2.