Sprague High School Orchestra

Camerata Repeats, Full Symphony Delivers Solid Performance

Saturday, 15 May 2010 16:09 Sprague's String Camerata orchestra took first place for the second consecutive year at the OSAA Orchestra Championship yesterday in Corvallis.   The day had an ominous beginning due to a rear-end collision suffered by their bus, but the ensemble showed few signs of the impact in their playing.  While the Camerata may have been expecting success, the full symphony, it turns out, seems to have expected the same.  They saved their best performance of the year for the competition and enjoyed a surprising, yet well-deserved third place finish. 

Congratulations are due to Ms. Ihas, the second-year orchestra director, and Dr. Greenwood, the first-year band director for their work and preparation over the past 6 months paying off so well.  But mostly, we are extremely proud of all the orchestra and band students who dedicated themselves to their own success and the furthering of the remarkable Sprague music legacy.

Camerata Takes First at District Festival

Sunday, 18 April 2010 01:01 The Sprague High School String Camerata won the Chamber Orchestra division of the Salem-Keizer School Disrict Invitation Festival today at the West Salem High School Auditorium. The highly decorated ensemble and the defending state co-champion scored 310 points to its cross-town rival and highly talented South High School's 307.  The Camerata performed David Diamond's Rounds for String Orchestra, third movement, and the fourth and fifth movements of Antonin Dvorak's Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22.  This same program will be presented in Corvallis at the OSAA statewide competition in the LaSells Stewart Performing Arts Center on the OSU campus on May 14th.

The Camerata received a special award for Outstanding Sight Reading, a key scoring component of the competition.

In the Full Orchestra division, the Sprague Full Symphony orchestra captured the third position in the district behind South and West after performing Schubert's 8th Symphony ('Unfinished') and the second and fifth movements of Bizet's Carmen Suite No. 2.  Their performance earned Full Symphony the right to compete at the state competition next month.

Zak Duell, a trumpeter, earned the Best Soloist Award for the Full Orchestra category for his excellent work on the Carmen pieces.

Camerata National Winner of the Mark of Excellence

Monday, 14 September 2009 21:26 All the hard work last year to master the uneven meter of the Suplevski Capriccio and perfect the two moving pieces of the Respighi Suite has resulted in yet another award, this time at the national level.  The Sprague High School Camerata Orchestra has been judged a National Winner of the Mark of Excellence by Jung-Ho Pak, a nationally recognized conductor, educator, and string orchestra adjudicator.  The Mark of Excellence is awarded annually by the Foundation for Music Education's Choice Music Events division.

This year over 150 entries of recorded performances were submitted from 28 states in five categories: Youth Orchestra, High School Full Orchestra, High School String Orchestra, Middle School Full Orchestra, and Middle School String Orchestra.  Of those 6 achieved National Winner status, another 7 qualifed with Commended Winner status, and 2 received State Winner awards.  Of the six National Winners, Sprague was the only non-Texas entry to be so recognized.  The state of Texas is considered to have the best music education in the country.
Read more...