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The Elgin Times
Oregon voices
William Jenks - Classical Guitar Performer
By Lori Kimbel
William Jenks was surely a typical Oregon boy growing up on a farm in Aurora. I’m sure he played with trucks in the rain and walked through
his mother’s kitchen with mud on his shoes a time or two.
By the age of six, William was seeing things a little differently than other boys his age. Sure a lot of kids like music, but with William
it was something more.
“I had an appreciation of music at a very young age,” William explained.
Not just any music, but orchestras. William has taken that appreciation and turned it into a fascinating career, teaching and performing
classical guitar.
He began his studies of the classical guitar at age 23 at Colorado Christian University, under the direction of Ken Johnson.
His music has taken him as far away as Austria, Hungary, and Italy. He has also played at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.
“I have been invited to play in Paris at Cambridge College,” said William.
He, along with his wife and two boys, will also travel to France, Spain and England.
Most recently, however, William played at the Elgin Opera House during the grand re-opening event.
He put on a tremendous show, just himself along with his guitar.
The music was soothing and entertaining, the venue, of course, unmatchable, and the crowd was very receptive to his style of performance.
“I’d like to play here again,” he said.
“It’s a great building with a lot of history. It has great acoustics and a great audience.”
In addition to performing, William also has founded the only exclusive classical teaching studio in Oregon, the William Jenks Guitar Studio,
where he and his staff have taught hundreds of students ages five to 75. William also hosts Portland’s classical guitar concert series.
William plans on performing at the Elgin Opera House again. I would like to encourage everyone to attend. His unique style is very
entertaining and it was such a natural performance to have in the Opera House. On that Saturday night it was as if our Opera House was built with William Jenks in mind.
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