The UW remembers one of the Northwest’s best music teachers, Ken Noreen
Ken Noreen, 1942–2025, was an dedicated musician, conductor, businessman and Mariners fan.
Former Husky Marching Band member Ken Noreen was one of this area’s best music teachers. Photo courtesy Shoreline Community College.
Everyone knows what a music hotbed the Pacific Northwest is. But they may not know the role Ken Noreen, ’64, ’68, played in making that happen. The Everett native, who earned two degrees in music education from the UW, was one of the most influential music teachers in Seattle history.
During his 48-year career, he served on the Husky Marching Band staff from 1965 to 1982 (after he played in the marching band from 1960 to 1964). That was in addition to teaching generations of students in his 24 years as the band director at Shorecrest High School and another 24 years as the band director at Shoreline Community College.
Noreen was so highly regarded throughout the Evergreen State that he served as president of the Washington Music Educators Association in the 1980s and was later inducted into its Hall of Fame. But his community commitment didn’t stop in the classroom. A founding member and president of the Shoreline Breakfast Rotary Club, he also helped found the Shoreline Arts Council and Shoreline Public Schools Foundation. He supported a multitude of other local institutions ranging from the Dale Turner YMCA to the Shoreline Community College Foundation. No wonder he needed to make room among his musical instruments for awards including the Christa McAuliffe Award for Educational Leadership from the state of Washington in 1991.
Then there was the joy he brought to the public. In addition to working with the Husky Marching Band, he was the director of music for the Seattle SuperSonics. His work with the Sonics was such a slam dunk that he was recognized by the performing rights organization Broadcast Music Inc.
Music wasn’t his entire life, however. Noreen was a real estate agent, travel agency owner, real estate investor and ardent traveler. A Seattle Mariners season-ticket holder for over 40 years, Noreen inspired this reflection in his Seattle Times obituary: “He never passed up a chance to cheer on his team or enjoy a root beer float from Dick’s Drive-In.” He died April 22 at the age of 82.