2026 Students of Distinction

Henry Glore: Finding an outlet through songwriting

Gig Harbor Now is posting profiles featuring the Students of Distinction being honored by the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation. Peers, teachers or parents nominate students, who must be a graduating senior at a Peninsula School District school. A panel of community leaders selects students to be honored in one of seven categories: academics; athletics; career and technical excellence; community service; music, arts and drama; overcoming adversity; and science and technology.

These students will be celebrated during a banquet from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, at Ocean5, 5268 Pt. Fosdick Dr.

School: Peninsula High School

Category: Art, music and drama

For Henry Glore, music has always felt deeply personal — not simply something to perform, but something that helped him understand himself and connect more honestly with the world around him. Through choir, theatre, songwriting, and performance, the Peninsula High School senior has transformed creativity into both leadership and healing.

Henry has spent all four years immersed in Peninsula’s performing arts programs, serving as a choir section leader, student musical director, theatre council president, playwright, actor, and award-winning soloist. Whether performing as Willy Wonka, Fagin, or Emmett Forrest onstage, directing fellow students, or leading rehearsals behind the scenes, he became known for creating welcoming and encouraging spaces within the arts community.

Henry Glore

“I always want people to feel like they can grow and never be afraid to ask questions,” Henry says.

Outside of school productions, Henry has also spent years developing his own songwriting and performing original music throughout the Gig Harbor community. Through local open mic performances, gigs, and collaborations with his student band, The Blue Anchor Band, he discovered that songwriting gave him a healthy outlet for navigating anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

“Music became my outlet instead of giving in to destructive compulsions,” he says. “Creating songs helped me express things I struggled to explain otherwise.”

Henry traces his lifelong passion for music back to hearing Oh! Darling as a child — a moment he describes as life-changing. Since then, music has shaped nearly every part of his identity and future aspirations.

This fall, Henry will attend Berklee College of Music to study songwriting and performance. He hopes to eventually pursue a career in music, whether as a recording artist, songwriter, or industry professional.

For Henry, success is ultimately rooted in honesty and fulfillment. “If I’ve made something that feels true to who I am,” he says, “that’s success.”

Whether through performance, leadership, or songwriting, Henry continues to use music not only to understand himself, but to help others feel understood too.