Edmond North High School was founded in 1992 and saw its first senior class walk across the stage in 1994. Now with over 2500 students, ENHS boasts a thriving arts program with one-fourth of the student population involved in the performing arts. The Edmond Public Schools orchestra program was founded in 1978 by Ms. Diane Berger, and when the district added two high schools, Ms. Berger took the reins of the brand new Edmond North Orchestra! During her eight-year tenure, the orchestra received the OSSAA State Sweepstakes Award four times, the highest honor given by our state’s activities association. The orchestra has also been recognized every year for Distinguished Academic Achievement for a cumulative grade point average above 3.50. In nearly thirty years, the district’s orchestra program has expanded to include over 1200 students in grades 6 to 12. At Edmond North, one in twenty students are enrolled in orchestra, and over 300 students have graduated from the ENO in 20 years.

     In 2002, the ENO welcomed their current director, Mr. Peter Markes. Under his direction, they performed at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in 2012, and they have twice been selected by the Oklahoma Music Educators Association to perform at the 2012 and 2008 conferences as the high school honor orchestra. They have won thirteen consecutive OSSAA State Sweepstakes Awards, nine consecutive times with the Accent Medal award. They have performed twice at Carnegie Hall, three times in the Chicago Symphony Center, the Dallas Meyerson Symphony Center, Music Center at Strathmore (Baltimore), and most recently they held their performance debut in the NJPAC, the the home of the New Jersey Symphony. Last year they performed twice as part of the OKC Philharmonic’s lobby activities, and in 2014 had an exciting return to the Oklahoma Civic Center Music Hall for their 20th anniversary concert! 

     Members of the ENO have performed three times for the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts Award ceremony, and four times for the Oklahoma Capitol's Governor’s Tree Lighting Ceremony. In May of 2007, the orchestra received a Governor's Commendation from Oklahoma Governor, Brad Henry. The governor wrote, “Your academic excellence along with your musical abilities show the best of the Oklahoma spirit and stand as a testament to the great potential of our youth.”  The orchestra has performed world-premieres of numerous works including Elegy on Stella, a piece for voice and orchestra by Aaron Fryckland, Longa Nekriz, an Arabic concerto for oud and orchestra by Callen Clarke, and numerous other works by Clarke including Normandie, a romance for violin and orchestra, Boum, the Wedding Suite featuring the “Sanctuary Overture,” and a double oud concerto, Medeterra: Owdan. In 2014 they premiered Janus Concerto by Class of 2014 cellist, Erin Lupardus. This year, they partnered with OKC-based performer and composer, Steven Stark, to premier his Wovensong: An Arduous Path. With its scheduled concert season and small chamber music events, the orchestra performs over ten times annually. 

     For the 2013-14 year, the ENO welcomed interim director, Mr. Levi Dobrinski, while Mr. Markes was on sabbatical leave as the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. Working with 144 students in grades 9 through 12, Mr. Dobrinski led the ensembles to their 11th consecutive State Sweepstakes Award and his first Director’s Sweepstakes Award. In 2006, rising student retention rates finally allowed for two groups that could each progress at more appropriate levels, and the 2009-10 school year saw the addition of a third ensemble. The 2014-15 school year saw continued growth with the addition of a fourth ensemble. Members of the orchestra join the rest of the performing arts department each year to present a full scale Broadway-style musical. They have presented such productions as Oklahoma!, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, Singin’ in the Rain, Crazy for You, and West Side Story. This year marked a new level of achievement with the presentation of Into the Woods. By graduation, an involved student will spend over 300 hours outside of class participating in orchestra.

     The ENO has an active clinician and guest artist series. Each year the orchestra receives clinician visits from professors at the University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and Wichita State University. Additionally, the orchestra has received visiting university performances from the Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma State University, and Texas Tech University symphony orchestras. In addition to these strong university relationships, the orchestra has also hosted numerous nationally- and internationally-renowned guest artists, including Barrage, blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa, the Synergy Brass Quintet, Time for Three, Break of Reality, Chicago Civic Orchestra conductor Cliff Colnot, Bowling Green State University conductor Dr. Kenneth Thompson, New Jersey Symphony Education Conductor Jeffrey Grogran, violin virtuoso and pedagogue Dr. Brian Lewis, jazz violinist Christian Howes, composer Jeffrey Bishop, tenor vocalist Bruce Decker, Les Miserables soprano (Nat'l Tour as Cosette) Amanda Clark, and Oklahoma's Musical Ambassador and virtuoso fiddle player, Kyle Dillingham. In 2014 and 2015, the ENO had a sell-out crowd for the highly acclaimed rock violinist and founding member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mark Wood and the Electrify Your Strings!

     The ENO has an active parent booster group that sponsors numerous activities throughout the year, including annual summer music camp scholarships, weekly sectional coaching sessions for each of the five sections from all three orchestras, and private lesson scholarships. Holding monthly meetings, the boosters organize an annual silent auction, car washes, and numerous restaurant-sponsored evenings, to raise and spend over $15,000 each year for the orchestra. An orchestra student council sponsors social events and community volunteer opportunities. They also assist with the daily organizational operations of the orchestra. In 2014, the student council supported the school-wide BALTO campaign, raising the third largest group amount for our school. Without all of this support, the orchestra could not function at such a prestigious level. The ENO Boosters continue to maintain non-profit 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.

     The enrollment of the 2015-16 Edmond North High School Orchestra maintained a 3.68 grade point average and a 27.2 ACT average for tests taken for college admittance. The ENO regularly has students accepted into the North Central Honor Orchestra with a school and state record of thirty-eight accepted in 2013, the Oklahoma Music Educators Association All-State Orchestra, also with a school record of fourteen accepted in 2015, the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, and the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras. The 2015-16 members hailed from thirteen different countries and represent 14 different religious denominations. They play on the school tennis, baseball, volleyball, basketball, swimming, cross country, golf, track, soccer, softball, cheer, hockey, football, drill, and bowling teams. Outside of school, they participate in 20 other organized physical education activities. In addition to orchestra, they are members of choir, band, drama, debate, wood-tech, and art departments; they are active in the National Honor Society, Indian Honor Society, and Cherokee Honor Society; S.U.N. club, student council, BALTO, multi-cultural club, AFJROTC, Blue Knights, creative writing club, journalism, yearbook, and photography clubs; German, Chinese, French, and Latin clubs, Key club, environmental club, chess club, Mu Alpha Theta, Teens Against Bullying, Odyssey of the Mind, FCA, Youth in Government, Pre-Engineering Academy, Pre-Med Club, and DECA Marketing Program.

     The ENO received the Oklahoma bar award, numerous scholar athlete awards, student of the month nominations and awards, Masonic Student of Today,  two Eagle Scouts, Medal awards in Girl Scouts, Choctaw STAR, Youth Leadership Edmond, numerous Academic E and AP Scholars with Honor, and Valedictorian and Salutatorian awards. The ENO students spend their free time volunteering or working at Korean Language School, OYO Student Board, Kitty Hawk Air Society, Gentle Animal Hospital, babysitting, OKC Orchestra League Instrument Playground, assisted living center music performances, and at many churches, schools, and other places of employment.

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