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Thursday, February 09, 2006
POLLY CAMPBELL
MILWAUKIE -- William Jenks has fancy fingernails.
The Aurora man carefully shapes and polishes them to perfection. Only then is he ready to play the
classical guitar. Nice nails are essential to sound quality when playing the instrument, said Jenks, 34, who has played the classical guitar for 11 years.
Although the instrument
has been around for at least 400 years, many people are only now discovering the classical guitar, Jenks said. And he's betting that the more they know about the instrument, the more they'll
like it.
Twice a month, Jenks, owner of the Portland Classic Guitar shop in Milwaukie, hosts a concert series featuring some of the top classical guitar players and other musicians .
On Friday, Grammy award-winning guitarist William Kanengiser, a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, performs a solo concert. Portland jazz musician John Stowell plays Feb. 18.
"I thought it would be a nice experience for the people in the community and the students to have a classical guitar series in Portland," Jenks said. He started the concerts a year ago.
At first, only about 15 people attended the shows. Now performances often draw 70 to 100 people. Students of the instrument come as well as fans of the performer, and the
curious who want to see the musician and hear the guitar.
Most people are familiar with the classical guitar's rock 'n' roll cousin -- the steel-string
electric guitar and the acoustic version. But the classical guitar is a thicker-necked, nylon-stringed instrument used to play everything from delicate renaissance music to modern compositions, Jenks said.
With the other styles of guitar, much of the music is played by ear, using a pick. But a pick on the classical guitar makes a clicking sound that destroys the sound quality, Jenks
said. So most performers carefully shape their fingernails until they are suitable for plucking the strings.
And the classical guitar has a mysterious, almost a primal quality that you don't hear from
other instruments, Kanengiser said. His goal is to share that music with others.
"For me, it's all about bringing the composer's vision to an audience," said Kanengiser,
who lives in Los Angeles and teaches at the University of Southern California when he's not performing throughout the nation. "An ideal performance for me is when I become a conduit for that.”
"Most of my concentration is on the shape of the piece, the story that's being told, the atmosphere and the sound world of the guitar," Kanengiser said. He began playing at the age of 9.
Although Jenks learned the instrument relatively late in life, compared with his two boys and Kanengiser, he is fueled by a passion for the instrument that has pushed him to work
hard and develop a successful career as both a teacher and performer.
Jenks, who is also a vocalist, performs six concerts a year -- usually two at local venues -
- in addition to about six weddings. On Feb. 24, he'll play a benefit concert for Habitat for Humanity in Canby, and he'll perform as part of the concert series on April 29.
But the music is so complex and the 90-minute-to-two-hour solo concerts are so demanding that Jenks spends most of his time preparing pieces and practicing to keep
the music fresh and interesting to audiences. He rehearses three to four hours a day and teaches hours of private lessons throughout the week.
"I worked hard and had a dream that I kept alive," Jenks said. "I didn't want to end up playing in a smoky bar. If I'm playing the classical guitar, I can play vast and complex
music in nice venues and concert halls."
Polly Campbell: p2campbell@comcast.net
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